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14 July 2023
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Featured FRI Magazine article: Heavy vehicle extrications Part 1 (FRI Vol 4 No 6)
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https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/rescue-roundup-vol-4-no6.pdf
https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/fri_vol_4_no_6.pdf
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Heavy vehicle extrications by Julius Fleischman and Neville van Rensburg, World Rescue Organisation (WRO) assessors and members (FRI Vol 4 No 6). We will be sharing some technical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Heavy vehicle extrications
By Julius Fleischman and Neville van Rensburg, World Rescue Organisation (WRO) assessors and members
The current status of rail transport in South Africa results in more heavy commercial vehicles being used for road transportation of goods and dangerous goods than in the past ensuing in an increase of heavy vehicle accidents. Heavy commercial vehicles’ new technology design is much more modern and more advanced and these vehicles also travel much faster than ever before.
In order to be able to execute an effective extrication, a good basic knowledge of heavy commercial vehicle systems and its anatomy is essential for any rescuer attend an accident.
Heavy commercial vehicles present us with quite a different challenge and we need to stay abreast to meet this challenge. Any heavy vehicle that has a special or unique design as to what it does makes it a specialty truck. When we talk about heavy vehicle rescue, most think about the normal long distance trucks. We must also consider the specialty trucks as these can present a more complex extrication than the large and heavy articulated trucks. These vehicles carry all types of cargo such as hazardous chemicals and gas, cement, agricultural products etc.
In South Africa, trucks are involved in approximately one out of every eight motor vehicle accidents.
Cabs
The cabs of many trucks are framed with structural steel work. A heavy gauge rolled-steel channel may run within the confines of the window screen pillar, bulkhead, door posts and rib at the rear of the cab.
Commercial vehicle classification
Commercial vehicle classification has three classes ie light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles.
Light commercial vehicles
Light commercial vehicles include four or six-wheeled rigid light commercial vehicles with an unlade weight of less than 3,5 ton.
Medium and heavy commercial vehicles are broken into further classification ie rigid and articulated vehicles.
Rigid vehicles
These are built on a solid frame and not designed to pull a trailer. Most of these vehicles have two to three axles.
Articulated vehicles
These include 5-axle articulated (semi), 6-axle articulated (semi), 6-axle rigid vehicle/drawbar trailer combination, 7-axle rigid vehicle/drawbar trailer combination, 7-axle interlink or 8-axle interlink vehicles. These vehicles are designed to carry their payload on a semi-trailer, rigid/draw-bar combination or interlink trailers and include a truck-tractor or prime mover. The trailers also come in a variety of types including flatbeds for hauling building materials or containers, goosenecks, closed box trailer for general cargo and tankers for hauling fuels or chemicals.
Specialty vehicles
Specialty vehicles are designed for a specific purpose. Some examples of these types of trucks would be concrete trucks, dump trucks and grain and vehicle transports.
Structural elements
The structural elements of a truck are divided into the following three categories ie frame, secondary structural elements and the structural drivetrain.
Frame
The primary structural element in all current commercial vehicles is a steel frame that runs the length of the vehicle, the engine, drivetrain, suspension and truck bed are all attached to the frame.
Secondary structural elements
The secondary structural elements are the parts of the truck that carry passengers and cargo; for example the cab and the cargo bed and some other equipment. Although these elements may account for a significant portion of the vehicle’s weight, they do not provide the essential strength or stiffness of the truck but can cause the people inside the truck to get injured with secondary objects.
Structural drivetrain
This category includes drive shafts, suspension, steering mechanism and braking components. These elements may contribute significantly to vehicle weight and are critical to the vehicle’s safe and reliable functioning.
Commercial vehicles traveling long distances can be involved in vehicle accidents, causing patient entrapments and these extrications can take from a few minutes to several hours.
It is vital that we understand heavy commercial vehicle construction. Patients can lose limbs due to compartment syndrome and the length of time they were trapped in these big, heavy vehicles.
As emergency service practitioners, we need to ask ourselves the following questions:
Extrication considerations
It should be remembered that heavy goods vehicles are designed for carrying heavy loads as opposed to passengers. To manage these heavy loads, the type of vehicle construction is immensely strong and subsequently required higher capacity rescue tools. The large size and weight of these vehicles can present complicated stabilisation problems such as large spaces between the ground and the vehicle, off centre loads and hazardous cargo.
https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/fri_vol_4_no_6.pdf
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Heavy vehicle extrications by Julius Fleischman and Neville van Rensburg, World Rescue Organisation (WRO) assessors and members (FRI Vol 4 No 6). We will be sharing some technical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Heavy vehicle extrications
By Julius Fleischman and Neville van Rensburg, World Rescue Organisation (WRO) assessors and members
The current status of rail transport in South Africa results in more heavy commercial vehicles being used for road transportation of goods and dangerous goods than in the past ensuing in an increase of heavy vehicle accidents. Heavy commercial vehicles’ new technology design is much more modern and more advanced and these vehicles also travel much faster than ever before.
In order to be able to execute an effective extrication, a good basic knowledge of heavy commercial vehicle systems and its anatomy is essential for any rescuer attend an accident.
Heavy commercial vehicles present us with quite a different challenge and we need to stay abreast to meet this challenge. Any heavy vehicle that has a special or unique design as to what it does makes it a specialty truck. When we talk about heavy vehicle rescue, most think about the normal long distance trucks. We must also consider the specialty trucks as these can present a more complex extrication than the large and heavy articulated trucks. These vehicles carry all types of cargo such as hazardous chemicals and gas, cement, agricultural products etc.
In South Africa, trucks are involved in approximately one out of every eight motor vehicle accidents.
Cabs
The cabs of many trucks are framed with structural steel work. A heavy gauge rolled-steel channel may run within the confines of the window screen pillar, bulkhead, door posts and rib at the rear of the cab.
Commercial vehicle classification
Commercial vehicle classification has three classes ie light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles.
Light commercial vehicles
Light commercial vehicles include four or six-wheeled rigid light commercial vehicles with an unlade weight of less than 3,5 ton.
Medium and heavy commercial vehicles are broken into further classification ie rigid and articulated vehicles.
Rigid vehicles
These are built on a solid frame and not designed to pull a trailer. Most of these vehicles have two to three axles.
Articulated vehicles
These include 5-axle articulated (semi), 6-axle articulated (semi), 6-axle rigid vehicle/drawbar trailer combination, 7-axle rigid vehicle/drawbar trailer combination, 7-axle interlink or 8-axle interlink vehicles. These vehicles are designed to carry their payload on a semi-trailer, rigid/draw-bar combination or interlink trailers and include a truck-tractor or prime mover. The trailers also come in a variety of types including flatbeds for hauling building materials or containers, goosenecks, closed box trailer for general cargo and tankers for hauling fuels or chemicals.
Specialty vehicles
Specialty vehicles are designed for a specific purpose. Some examples of these types of trucks would be concrete trucks, dump trucks and grain and vehicle transports.
Structural elements
The structural elements of a truck are divided into the following three categories ie frame, secondary structural elements and the structural drivetrain.
Frame
The primary structural element in all current commercial vehicles is a steel frame that runs the length of the vehicle, the engine, drivetrain, suspension and truck bed are all attached to the frame.
Secondary structural elements
The secondary structural elements are the parts of the truck that carry passengers and cargo; for example the cab and the cargo bed and some other equipment. Although these elements may account for a significant portion of the vehicle’s weight, they do not provide the essential strength or stiffness of the truck but can cause the people inside the truck to get injured with secondary objects.
Structural drivetrain
This category includes drive shafts, suspension, steering mechanism and braking components. These elements may contribute significantly to vehicle weight and are critical to the vehicle’s safe and reliable functioning.
Commercial vehicles traveling long distances can be involved in vehicle accidents, causing patient entrapments and these extrications can take from a few minutes to several hours.
It is vital that we understand heavy commercial vehicle construction. Patients can lose limbs due to compartment syndrome and the length of time they were trapped in these big, heavy vehicles.
As emergency service practitioners, we need to ask ourselves the following questions:
- How effective is our training programmes in our services on heavy vehicle extrication?
- Do our staff get the necessary exposure to the different materials and places to gain entry and relocated the materials?
- Are our rescue vehicles equipped with rescue platforms to working on heights of these vehicles?
- Do they understand that the same new car technology challenges and materials we will also find on trucks?
Extrication considerations
It should be remembered that heavy goods vehicles are designed for carrying heavy loads as opposed to passengers. To manage these heavy loads, the type of vehicle construction is immensely strong and subsequently required higher capacity rescue tools. The large size and weight of these vehicles can present complicated stabilisation problems such as large spaces between the ground and the vehicle, off centre loads and hazardous cargo.