February 25, 2012

7:31 PM

Portland firefighters responded to the intersection of Northeast 76th Avenue and Northeast Freemont Street on a vehicle rollover at 6:09 this evening to discover a man trapped underneath the vehicle. Once it was determined that it was not going to be a standard extrication, the incident commander requested additional support to respond. The total response to the incident was two fire engines, two ladder trucks, and Portland Fire’s Heavy Rescue Squad 1 from downtown Portland.

At serious vehicle accidents within the City of Portland, fire engines and their personnel are responsible for providing medical care to the victims, securing a water supply to the nearest fire hydrants, and providing protective hose lines in case a fire in generated during the extrication process. Ladder trucks carry extrication tools such as the "Jaws of Life" and airbags that can be placed under a vehicle and then filled with compressed air in order to lift the vehicle up. Airbags were the tool of choice in the accident this evening. It took firefighters about twenty minutes after arriving on scene to have the victim out from under the vehicle and into the waiting ambulance where he was then rushed to Emmanuel Hospital’s Trauma Center.

Although the victim was conscious and able to speak to firefighters on scene, his total injuries and condition was not able to be determined at the scene. Once admitted to the hospital, doctors will utilize tests and procedures not available to paramedics and emergency medical technicians out in the field. Portland Police also responded to incident and will be the agency in charge of investigating the accident.

  Portland Fire & Rescue