ORANGE — The town Fire Department demonstrated what it takes to extricate a patient involved in a motor vehicle collision recently.
This labor intensive and time-consuming process was explained to onlookers while the demonstration was taking place. During an actual incident, emergency services personnel are competing with the clock as they rush to extricate, treat, and transport the injured patients to an appropriate health care facility within the “golden hour,” firefighters explained at an open house this past weekend. For an accident that occurs in Orange, this means getting the injured patient extricated from the vehicle, providing life saving advanced life support care, and using a medical helicopter for transportation to a Level I Trauma Center in Worcester or Springfield within one hour from the time the accident occurred.
Adding to this challenge for Orange firefighters is the aging equipment that they use. Their “Jaws of Life” hydraulic extrication system was purchased following fundraising efforts in the early 1990s. The tools lack sufficient power to cut and spread the reinforced and hardened steel used to manufacture modern motor vehicles, according to the Fire Department. The tools have served the the Town of Orange and surrounding communities well for over 20 years but are in need of replacement, according to the Fire Department.
The department will be applying for a highly competitive federal grant seeking funding for a modern set of battery-operated hydraulic rescue tools that cut and spread with three-times the force of the current equipment.