Rapid save system trialed

Firefighters in Wairarapa are the first in New Zealand to use a new and faster method of freeing trapped crash victims from their vehicles.
Masterton Fire Service station officer Garry Nielsen said the Rapid Extrication system is now on trial at Greytown and Masterton fire stations as well as stations in Hawke's Bay and Porirua.
He said the technique was first used in New Zealand last week to free a driver from a vehicle that crashed head-on in South Wairarapa, using chains anchored to a fire engine at the front and rear of the wrecked car, although the driver of the vehicle was seriously injured and soon afterwards died at the scene.
The new technique is based on reversing the forces of the original crash by anchoring the rear of the vehicle and pulling the steering wheel and the front window pillars forward with chains literally pulling the crashed vehcile apart and is designed for use in frontal impacts in particular.
Mr Nielsen said in 2007 then Masterton firefighter Darren Crawford, who was at the South Wairarapa crash site as an ambulance officer, travelled to Norway to study the technique where it was first developed, returning to pass on the skill and training methods to his colleagues.
Masterton firefighters actually based an extrication on the new technique after a two-vehicle crash at Parkvale last year, he said, which was also swift and successful.
"It's primary use is for frontal entrapment when a person is trapped by the steering wheel or dash or other parts of the car and rather than take an hour pushing and using hydraulic cutters, you pull the vehcile apart in 15 minutes or less," Mr Nielsen said.
"At the end of the day it's another tool in your toolbox that means it's quicker to get somebody to the hospital, especially when travel times are greater and speed at the crash site can really make all the difference."
Mr Nielsen said he has trained firefighters in Porirua and Greytown and is to also instruct other colleagues in Napier and Hastings in using the Rapid Extrication technique.
Greytown fire chief Chris Williams said the technique involved chaining a fire engine front and rear of the crashed vehicle at South Wairarapa and putting "relief cuts" in the front windscreen pillars and the floor pan crash before the car was "pulled apart" and the driver freed in 13 minutes as opposed to an hour of work using hydraulic cutters.
"It worked perfectly, especially since the crash involved a frontal impact, which is what the technique is designed for."
The technique will be made available nationwide at a cost of about $500 per set of chains for each rescue fire engine should the trial prove successful.