Sipesville Volunteer Fire Company

On the evening of October 17, we were dispatched for an MVA involving two vehicles with unkown injuries on Penn Ave. near the inersection of Conn Road. We arrived on scene and found a compact pickup truck with frontal damage sitting in the middle of the roadway, and a midsize car slightly off the roadway in a very unstable position. The elderly female patient in the car sustained minor injuries and was not entrapped. Due to the position of the vehicle, the doors could not be used as an extrication pathway. As seen in the picture the car was being held in place by an upright split-rail fence post that was somewhat displaced by the impact of the collision. Crews used our Holmatro long ram to help stabilize the rear of the vehicle and also tied chains around the bottom of the car and secured them to Engine 4. Once the car was stable, and safe to work around, crews decided the best way to extricate the patient would be to remove the roof; therefore providing the maximum space to insert a backboard a safely remove the patient. A combined team effort involved the use of our Holmatro combi tool, our reciprocating saw, and some hacksaws, and resulted in the removal of the roof in under ten minutes. The patient was extricated and care was transferred to Somerset Area Ambulance. The driver of the pickup refused treatment, but was taken into PSP custody for probable DUI.