At 3 o'clock on a calm Saturday afternoon, your station receives a dispatch for a rescue at a single-family residence. A man is trapped under a vehicle that he was repairing in his driveway. The victim's daughter, who made the 911 call, said the incident occurred only a few minutes earlier and that the patient is turning blue and losing consciousness.

You arrive on scene, where the daughter and some neighbors direct your crew to the patient. They are very anxious and emotional, waiting for you to do something.

“Get it off me,” says the shade-tree mechanic as he lays trapped under his 1987 Camaro. He was working under his car when the jack failed and the car came down on his chest. The victim is trapped and can hardly speak.

This call could come into any fire station across America, and departments need to be ready to handle it. Are apparatus equipped with tools that could be used to lift this car off the patient safely? Does this call qualify for a technical-rescue response and, if so, should the first-arriving crew secure the scene and wait for the technical-rescue team? I faced this scenario and those questions as a newly promoted captain on Ladder Tender 7 of the Tucson (Ariz.) Fire Department.

I had a game plan for my crew — get a power unit, attach the spreaders, lift the car up and off the patient, and save the day. But as the crew deployed the equipment and started to lift the car, it began to roll forward and away from the spreaders. My alert engineer grabbed apparatus wheel chalks and placed them under the front of the vehicle, adding some much-needed stability. This stability allowed the crew to pull the victim out from under the car and to a safe location to begin assessment and treatment.

After returning to the station, the crew discussed the operation. Once the crew began lifting the vehicle, the spreader tips had very little surface area in contact with ground, which caused the vehicle instability. It was clear that the crew should have used some cribbing to help secure the vehicle. At the time of the incident, every pumper and ladder tender carried a power unit with spreaders and cutters, but only a few carried cribbing.

Following this incident, my crew and I set out to design a basic cribbing package for every pumper, ladder tender and ladder company. Research led us to a kit that included eight 4- by 4- by 18-inch cribs, four 2- by 4- by 18-inch cribs and a set of step chalks. This kit is sufficient for the majority of extrication responses and small rescue scenarios like this one. This kit also allows crews to start basic cribbing functions before the technical-rescue team arrives.

I spent four years on Tucson's technical-rescue team and taught basic extrication to numerous recruit classes. The recruits may have thought I was there for them, but I was there to keep my skills up as well. Each time you cut up a car, it responds differently.

I have been a captain for seven years now. I was fresh off of a two-year assignment as a training captain when I was faced with a similar rescue situation once again. I responded on one of three engines and three medic units to a two-car motor-vehicle accident. A Chevy Avalanche rolled, ejected both unrestrained occupants and landed right-side up on top of the young female driver.

As crews arrived, the incident commander assigned us to extricate the young female. Once again, I requested the rescue tool and cribbing kit, and crews made all the connections, built a box crib and prepared to lift the vehicle. Sure enough, the vehicle rolled forward and off the spreader tips. But the cribbing did its job and caught the vehicle.

When the crew talked over this incident, we again came back to the lack of surface area of the spreader tips against the ground. We recreated the scenario and tried several devices to create additional surface area. Simply placing a 2 by 4 under the curved area of the spreader tips yielded the best results.

The average front-line apparatus probably carries an extrication tool that allows the spreaders to be used as a jack. If apparatus is not equipped with an extrication tool, request one while en route. Crews also may need to use make-shift aids such as another jack in the area or out of a trunk of another car. Special equipment, such as air bags, also will work.

This scenario may qualify as a technical-rescue response. In a perfect world, crews would want to use airbags in conjunction with cribbing as they are designed for this type of lifting.

These rescue incidents require quick action. And any family members on scene will increase crew stress. It is important to drill on these incidents and predetermine a game plan.

James Kearney is a 15-year member of the Tucson (Ariz.) Fire Department, where he has been a captain for seven years, two of those as a training captain. He also served as an engineer for four years and on the technical-rescue team for four years.