How to escape a sinking car. Plus, cars in canals, lakes, rivers, MUST SEE!

[Rapid Diver]

Here is the statistic that every rescue professional should know: Statistics provided by FARS and the CDC show that 10,000 vehicles go into water each year in the US, with 300 fatalities.

This topic is dedicated to teach the techniques on how to get out of a car safely while the car is submerging as well as reinforcing the need for a Rapid rescue dive capability.

OCCUPANTS KILLED IN MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES BY MOST HARMFUL EVENT = IMMERSION: BY STATE

From: FATALITY ANALYSIS REPORTING SYSTEM (FARS) 2007


Alabama 3
Alaska 0
Arizona 4
Arkansas 5
California 44
Colorado 7
Connecticut 1
Delaware 0
Dist of Columbia 0
Florida 53
Georgia 1
Hawaii 0
Idaho 12
Illinois 3
Indiana 10
Iowa 1
Kansas 0
Kentucky 9
Louisiana 22
Maine 0
Maryland 3
Massachusetts 0
Michigan 5
Minnesota 7
Mississippi 0
Missouri 1
Montana 0
Nebraska 1
Nevada 1
New Hampshire 2
New Jersey 3
New Mexico 5
New York 7
North Carolina 5
North Dakota 0
Ohio 5
Oklahoma 9
Oregon 8
Pennsylvania 3
Rhode Island 0
South Carolina 2
South Dakota 1
Tennessee 2
Texas 25
Utah 0
Vermont 1
Virginia 4
Washington 3
West Virginia 2
Wisconsin 5
Wyoming 0
Puerto Rico 1

[Rapid Diver]

MUST SEE! This video demonstrates the reality of what happens when a vehicle goes off the road and enters the water. From our friends on the Miami Dade dive team.




Deputy Fire Chief connected to fatal crash

Popular DJ Dies in Rollover Crash
(May 15) - A week after a popular Orlando radio personality died in a rollover crash on the Florida Turnpike, the owner of a chair that fell onto road and caused the accident came forward this week, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Police said Erika Roman, 33, swerved to avoid a boat lounge chair in her lane and overcorrected. Her car flipped over several times before landing upside down in a deep canal.

The owner of the chair will likely face a misdemeanor charge, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $500, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The chair belonged to an Osceola County, Fla., deputy fire chief who said he was on his way to the Florida Keys with his family when the chair fell off his boat. He told investigators that he initially thought the chair had been stolen.
"He is remorseful," a police official said.
Roman, also known as Chula, was a co-host and producer at Orlando radio station POWER 95.3. She worked on the 'Lil Shawn and Obie Morning Show.

Find video here

[Rapid Diver]

Kortni and Caleb Peek talk to Julie Chen about how Kortni was able to rescue her children from a sinking car in an icy Indiana pond.

[Rapid Diver]

Rescue:

[Rapid Diver]

Stillwater Fire Department responds to a vehicle fully submerged in the St. Croix river.

[Rapid Diver]

Winthrop, Maine -- A Lewiston woman escaped without injury Thursday, April 24, 2009, after driving her car into Maranacook Lake.

Hibo Hassan, 27, was able to climb out of the car while it was just a few feet from shore, said Deputy Chief Dave Currie of the Winthrop Fire Department.

The accident occurred around 4:30 p.m., as Hassan was driving her Toyota Camry four-door west on Summer Street. She told police an approaching car was in her lane. Hassan swerved to miss the approaching car and drove over a low banking and into the water, Currie said.

Hassan was able to quickly escape the car, but the wind pushed the empty vehicle about 75 feet from shore before it came to rest on the bottom in about 4 feet of water.

"It floated for quite a while," Currie said.

Firefighters, using a Winthrop Fire Department boat, attached chains from a tow truck to the submerged car's frame. A large crowd gathered, many snapping photos with phone cameras, as the car was slowly pulled from the water.

Read Kennebec Journal story at www.kjonline.com.

Video by Craig Crosby, Joe Phelan and Ben Sturtevant

[Rapid Diver]

These videos are very helpful in understanding the physics of a sinking vehicle.

More tips on getting out of your vehicle alive:



Interesting animation on how to get out of a sinking vehicle:



Escape a sinking car:




Saginaw County (MI) Sheriff scuba divers sent a car into the water in a training exercise. Learn how quick a car can sink and some tips on removing one.

[Rapid Diver]

Lucky escape

[Rapid Diver]

New invention may help you escape your sinking vehicle...great idea!

[Rapid Diver]

Police car runs into water. Dashcam catches it all.

[Rapid Diver]

A woman in Shanghai, China accidentally reverses off a ferry boat and into the Huangpu River, as her husband and 18-year-old son watch helplessly on the side. Bystanders prevent the husband from ju...
A woman in Shanghai, China accidentally reverses off a ferry boat and into the Huangpu River, as her husband and 18-year-old son watch helplessly on the side. Bystanders prevent the husband from jumping in to save the woman. Chinese netizens ask why the rescue boat in this video just sits there doing nothing to save the woman trapped in the car.

[Rapid Diver]

The driver lost control, skidding off the road landing upside down in four feet of water. The driver and a small dog were trapped for 15 minutes before being rescued. Fortunately they found an air pocket.

Alex a yellow lab was not as lucky. trapped underneath a front seat without an air pocket for nearly 60 minutes. Because of the very murky water conditions, dive team members had to work by feel to free the lifeless Alex. It was feared Alex was dead. Alex came back to life after being removed!

[marykayk]

I've just become aware of this site and have registered because I am the grandmother of a young man who drowned in his sinking vehicle. Since then I've dedicated my time to researching this issue.

I'm concerned that you have too many videos recommending various techniques. The general public needs one definitive, expert, source for information that they can easily remember in a panic situation. The Indiana State Police have produced a video that demonstrates the most effective escape method, agreed upon by experts such as Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht: immediate escape through a window.

The video is available at: http://www.igot2know.com/action/viewvideo/234/Two_Minutes_to_Survival/.

My web site includes information that I have gathered after exhaustive research and consultations with numerous experts throughout the world: http://sites.google.com/site/getoutaliveorg/.

Your rapid diver system is a great idea, but please keep in mind that unless your divers are already on the scene, victims need to know how to escape on their own. I look forward to future discussions. Thanks so much.

[Rapid Diver]

Wow...hero story for sure!

[marykayk]

How are these videos being verified before you approve and share them? I know at least one of them has inaccuracies and although I've pointed that out to the author, it is still available for end-users who are not professional researchers. As a professional researcher, I implore you to only share survival information that has been verified by experts.

The Indiana State Police have produced a video that demonstrates the accepted and proven method often referred to as POGO: Pop seatbelt, Open window, Get Out! This video is available at: http://www.igot2know.com/action/viewvideo/234/Two_Minutes_to_Survival/. Please link this video to your site and remove any that you have not verified.

More information on vehicle submersion is available on my web site. This includes accurate statistics provided by FARS and the CDC showing that 10,000 vehicles go into water each year in the US, with 300 fatalities. Whatever the number, it is much too high and has not decreased since these statistics were first collected. In order to change this trend, we must share accurate self-survival information with the general public. As we all know, rescuers are seldom able to get to the scene in time to save lives.

My web site is located at: http://sites.google.com/site/getoutaliveorg. Stay safe.

[Rapid Diver]

That is a great point. If you type in "how to escape a vehicle" on YouTube.com several pages of links come up.

There is a great oppurtunity for the Public Safety community to actively train on the correct procedures to exit a sinking vehicle.

The ReQme tool is also something that everyone should carry, and I highly recommend (video below).

The most effective plan is to cover all bases, from self rescue, assisted rescue (good Samaritan) and Public Safety Diver Rescue. By pulling together all of our resources, we will have a chance of minimizing the growing statistics.

Please view the videos on this thread and please make comments as necessary.


http://www.igot2know.com/action/viewvideo/234/Two_Minutes_to_Survival/

[Admin]

[Rapid Diver]

It can happen this fast...

[Admin]

Here is a great resource that lists 100's of rescue stories:

url=http://lifesaving.com/submerged_vehicle/index.php]http://lifesaving.com/submerged_vehicle/index.php[/url]


http://lifesaving.com/spotlight/index.php[

[Admin]

FYI

From: http://lifesaving.com/submerged_vehicle/show_article.php?section=news&id=1123

Firefighters under investigation in Fla. crash
March 10, 2010


As many as 10 Palm Beach County Fire Rescue workers are under investigation in the aftermath of the accident

By Jose Lamiet
Palm Beach Post

WELLINGTON, Fla. — The first responders to the fatal car crash involving International Polo Club founder John Goodman are under investigation because the body of 23-year-old Scott Wilson was not found until an hour after the accident.

As many as 10 Palm Beach County Fire Rescue workers are under investigation in the aftermath of the Feb. 12 accident, when Goodman ran a stop sign and slammed Wilson's car into a canal.

Two firefighters searched Wilson's submerged vehicle, which was upside down in the water, but they could not find anyone in the early morning darkness, sources told The Palm Beach Post on Monday.

In time, the fire rescue responders from Wellington's Station 27 left the scene because they believed their job was done. Sheriff's deputies were at the scene when Wilson's Hyundai Sonata was hoisted back on the road, revealing his body in the driver's seat.

"Our guys obviously didn't look for a body hard enough,'' said a fire rescue source.

Capt. Don Delucia, fire rescue's spokesman, confirmed the existence of the investigation but declined further comment. When asked about emergency procedures for cars in canals, Delucia said: "There are masks and snorkels on the emergency vehicles but the conditions in our canals are bad. It's so opaque you can't see your hand in front of you, even in broad daylight. Diving on a vehicle is extremely dangerous and difficult."

Delucia said responders also have the option to call in professional divers, but that wasn't done, according to a source.

An autopsy showed that Wilson drowned after Goodman drove his Bentley through a stop sign and hit his car, sending it into the water off Lake Worth Road in Wellington. Goodman left the scene and walked to a nearby home to call 911. Authorities are still trying to figure out whether alcohol or drugs were involved.

Goodman, 46, has hired star attorney Roy Black and has been staying in Miami Beach hotels since the crash. He has not been charged.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 man at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Col. Mike Gauger, is conducting an informal review of sheriff's deputies' response. He declined to comment on the review.

Wilson, a Wellington High graduate who earned his engineering degree from the University of Central Florida in May, was headed home for his sister's birthday.

Reached Monday, William Wilson, Scott's father, said, "I haven't been told anything by the sheriff's office or anyone, so I can't really comment."

[Admin]

Video: First responder pulls mom, 2 kids from sinking car in Minn.
Dramatic rescue recorded by a traffic management camera
The Associated Press


RICHFIELD, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation says a state highway first responder rescued a Twin Cities woman and her two children after the mother drove their car off a highway and into a pond.

A department spokesman says the emergency worker, Don Machacek, arrived at the pond in Richfield, just south of Minnesota, Wednesday afternoon to find the vehicle "nose-first and sinking."

He says Machacek opened a rear passenger door and pulled the three to safety. The car continued to sink.

The woman and her children, ages 8 and 10, are OK.

The dramatic rescue was recorded by a traffic management camera.

The spokesman says the driver misjudged her exit from the Interstate 35W.

Below is the dramatic video, make sure you click on full screen.

Dramatic footage here

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