Firefighters Encounter Heavy Entrapment on Highway

On Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 1:33 AM, the Purchase Fire Department was dispatched to a reported motor vehicle accident with extrication on Interstate 684 Southbound in the area of Manhattanville Road. Upon arrival, members observed a late model sedan on the left shoulder that had struck and partially run through the guardrail. EMS personnel were on scene attending to the vehicle's heavily entrapped occupant, who suffered head trauma, but remained conscious throughout.

The box beam style guardrail remained intact through impact, shearing the vehicle's exterior and consequently entering the passenger compartment. Firefighters used a circular saw equipped with a diamond blade to remove the section of guardrail, which facilitated disentanglement of the patient. Sufficient access for patient removal was ultimately achieved after the doors, roof, and steering column were displaced with hydraulic tools. The patient was then packaged and airlifted to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, NY. The Purchase Fire Department thanks its neighboring agencies for their outstanding assistance.