Controlled Lower Of A Side-Resting Vehicle

I previously did a post on the “Controlled Lower” technique of a side-resting vehicle, however it was lost during some revisions I did to the blog about a month ago.  With that said, I am posting the video and information on the technique again.  Before diving too deep into the topic, let me reiterate that this technique IS NOT and DOES NOT need to be utilized on all side-resting vehicles.  I want to ensure nobody walks away from viewing this blog perceiving this to be the “Plan A” tactic on all side-resting vehicles.

With that said, the Controlled Lower can be a very useful technique in specific side-resting vehicle situations.  Situations where the passenger compartment of a side-resting vehicle becomes wrapped around an object or is severely damaged and/or obstructed may dictate the use of the Controlled Lower.  The objective is to extricate the patient in the most efficient and effective manner possible.  We could spend 30 minutes or longer messing with a vehicle that has very little passenger compartment access or we can take 5 minutes or less to rig the vehicle and lower it.  Once the vehicle is on all 4 wheels, conventional vehicle extrication techniques may be employed to free the patient.

There are some folks who lose a lot of sleep over the concept of moving a vehicle with a patient in it.  I’d agree there is cause for concern if the vehicle isn’t being moved in a controlled manner.  However, the Controlled Lower is just that, controlled.  A device is needed to apply tension and a device is needed to provide friction or resistance.  The video demonstrates the use of a TU-28 grip hoist to apply tension and the use of a Warn XD9000 winch run through a COD and used in a 2:1 configuration to provide resistance.  The 2:1 configuration cuts the winch speed in half thus allowing it to better operate simultaneously with the grip hoist.  I believe using 2 grip hoists is the best way to complete the Controlled Lower as they can be taken anywhere, are designed with the necessary WLL, smoothly operate in either direction, and operate at the same speed.  However if you don’t have grip hoists you can utilize a cable come-along, chain hoist, winches, OOS or dedicated(to use with vehicles, not people) life safety rope with dedicated hardware.  These are all options and they operate with the same principle.

The only way to effectively apply the Controlled Lower technique is to train on it before having to use it in the real world.  Train with different vehicles on different terrain.  All of these variables play a factor in the Controlled Lower and working out the kinks during training will afford you the best opportunity to perform in an efficient and effective manner on the emergency scene.  The crew in the video had never performed this task prior to the video and were easily able to grasp the concept in a matter of minutes.  However, if you watch closely during the video you will see one of the attachments on the “dirty side” of the vehicle moves suddenly.  The crew did not ensure all of the attachment points were loaded properly prior to taking the full load of the vehicle.  Fortunately the attachment loaded properly with the full weight of the vehicle and no harm was done.  However, attention to minor details such as this are paramount during the operations we perform.