This tractor trailer had overturned in a sharp curve near Monterey trapping the driver between the dashboard and his seat. The truck was also resting on its top at the edge of a steep muddy hillside. Another obstacle was the cab consisted mainly of fiberglass and light sheet metal. This made it difficult to stabilize the truck and prevented us from using our air bags. The guardrail and broken cab also made it difficult to box crib
The squad tried using almost every tool on our two trucks, but the weight of the cab and the position of the patient made it impossible to push the dash off of the driver. Two large wreckers with booms(these are like small cranes) were used.. We do not normally like to use this because it is very hard to control the movement of the wrecked vehicle in this manner. The skillful wrecker operators attached the cables to the solid steel frame on the underside of the truck and lifted the cab up enough to let us spread the seat and dash away from each other. This freed the patient and he was quickly placed in a waiting helicopter and flown to a trauma center. You can see the wreckers hooked onto the frame in these top two pictures.
Accident scene.
