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← Vehicle Extrication and Special Rescue

EMT Basic · Chapter 39 · Review · Chapter track

Vehicle Extrication and Special Rescue

Referencing the content of EMT-Basic training and emergency patient care

Learning objectives (10)

  1. Define the terms extrication and entrapment — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  2. Describe examples of situations that would require special technical rescue teams and the EMT’s role in these situations — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  3. Describe examples of vehicle safety components that may be hazardous to both EMTs and patients following a collision and how to mitigate their dangers — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  4. Describe the 10 phases of vehicle extrication and the role of the EMT during each one — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  5. Describe the special precautions the EMT should follow to protect the patient during a vehicle extrication — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  6. Discuss how to ensure safety at the scene of a rescue incident, including scene size-up and the selection of the proper personal protective equipment and additional necessary gear — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  7. Discuss patient care considerations related to assisting with rapid extrication, providing emergency care to a trapped patient, and removing and transferring a patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  8. Explain the difference between simple access and complex access in vehicle extrication — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  9. Explain the different factors that must be considered before attempting to gain access to the patient during an incident that requires extrication — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

  10. Explain the responsibilities of an EMT in patient rescue and vehicle extrication — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1463); confirm wording in your course copy.

Chapter web resources

Optional reading from authoritative sites. Your textbook remains the primary source for this course.

  • USFA · FEMA USFA

    Extrication and rescue operations context

When sources disagree (5 topics to verify before you teach from this chapter alone)

Printable study sheetPrintable flashcards (PDF, 10-up)Read first, then practise the track.

Showing Chapter track material. Switch tracks on the chapter page.

Vocabulary · 12

  • Extrication

    The process of safely removing a patient from a vehicle, structure, or other entrapment.

    SourceNational Fire Protection Association (NFPA) — NFPA 1006 — Standard for technical rescue

  • Simple access

    Reaching a patient without specialized tools — opening unlocked doors, lowering windows, or using existing openings.

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle extrication — simple access

  • Complex access

    Reaching a patient requires tools or specialty teams — hydraulic equipment, cribbing, or technical rescue resources.

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle extrication — complex access

  • Cribbing

    Interlocking wood or composite blocks used to stabilize vehicles or heavy objects during rescue operations.

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle stabilization — cribbing

  • Step chocks

    Stair-stepped cribbing pieces used to wedge under a vehicle's frame to limit movement.

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle stabilization

  • Hydraulic spreader

    The hydraulic 'jaws of life' tool used to force apart vehicle components — doors, posts, frames — during extrication.

    SourceNFPA — Hydraulic rescue tools

  • Hydraulic cutter

    A hydraulic shear used to cut through vehicle posts, body panels, or steering columns.

    SourceNFPA — Hydraulic rescue tools

  • Vehicle stabilization

    Securing a vehicle against unwanted movement before personnel access the interior or work around the vehicle.

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle stabilization

  • Rapid extrication

    Expedited removal of a patient when the scene is unsafe, the patient is unstable, or rapid movement is otherwise indicated despite injury risk.

    SourceAAOS — Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured, 12e — Rapid extrication technique

  • Technical rescue

    Specialized rescue disciplines requiring advanced training and equipment — confined space, swift water, high angle, trench, and structural collapse.

    SourceNFPA 1006 — Technical rescue disciplines

  • SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus)

    Portable breathing equipment worn by rescuers to supply respirable air in toxic or oxygen-deficient atmospheres.

    SourceOSHA — Self-contained breathing apparatus

  • Inner / outer circle

    Two organizational zones around a rescue scene — the inner circle (active rescuers) and outer circle (support personnel and equipment staging).

    SourceNFPA — Vehicle rescue scene management

Sequences · 2

  • Order of extrication priorities — Order the EMT and rescue team priorities at a vehicle extrication.
  • Attempting simple access first — Order the simple access checks before escalating to tools.