It’s called the Golden Hour – physicians say seriously injured car crash victims need to reach comprehensive medical care within 60 minutes to ensure a good chance of survival. At the accident scene, this scenario leaves about 12 minutes for rescuers to extricate the wounded and speed them toward the hospital. Award-winning I-CAR instructor Todd Hoffman aims to increase the chances of crash survival by making sure every emergency worker in North America learns – free-of-charge – the latest vehicle extrication strategies.

“I have 12 courses,” says Hoffman. “My goal is to distribute them to all 80,000 police, fire and EMS departments in the United States by Sept. 11, 2006.” That date marks the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

So far more than 150 organizations have them in hand, and Hoffman estimates that it will cost $2 million to complete the process. Calls also have come in from Canada requesting the program, and firefighters in Mexico are awaiting a Spanish-language version.

With as many as 12 airbags in a single vehicle and voltages as high as 500 volts, updated extrication training is a must, he notes. There are 1.1 million firefighters in the U.S., and 800,000 of them (73 percent) are non-paid volunteers. “We have a huge number of volunteers and most of them don’t have the money to attend training.” A big city department that makes a lot of runs is likely to be well-equipped, while a rural department may have members taking turns sharing certain safety devices. “This will help level the playing field,” he says. Budgets are so tight for most departments that a chief could face a mutiny if scarce funds were spent on training programs rather than critical apparatus and turnout gear needs.

Thus Hoffman aims to provide every first-responder with the necessary knowledge and confidence to safely and quickly extricate accident victims.

He tells of heart-wrenching conversations with emergency workers asking how they could have better dismantled a given vehicle: “If I just knew how to cut this car apart we could have gotten them out sooner. Instead they died at the scene. Can you tell us what we could have done?”

Working around it

Later-model vehicles in particular present major concerns to first responders because of the dangers posed by airbags and high voltage systems or delays caused by unfamiliar designs or super-tough materials.

“If it was your family you wouldn’t want them not to know what to do just because it’s a later-model car,” Hoffman observes.

For example, the wiring complexities of hybrids, the flammability of magnesium and the sturdiness of boron steel all create challenges when time is of the essence. A hybrid needs to be de-energized and a boron component is usually bypassed.

“They have to know vehicle construction so they can work around it,” Hoffman explains. “If you spend six minutes trying to cut through boron you’ll lose the patient.”

Scene Of The Accident is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation put together by Hoffman to facilitate spreading the relevant training. The 12-part program constitutes 40 hours of instruction detailed on 12 compact discs.

“There’s an instructor manual the prints right of the CD,” he points out. A classroom-savvy member of the collision industry can present six of the courses to address general safety issues for sessions at schools or other civic organizations. The other six are specifically designed for experienced emergency training officers to conduct. The topics covered are:

1. Vehicle safety
2. Basic vehicle anatomy
3. Advanced vehicle anatomy
4. Basic airbags and restraints
5. Advanced airbags and restraints
6. Basic alternative fuels
7. Advanced alternative fuels
8. Basic vehicle extrication
9. Advanced vehicle extrication
10. Basic vehicle fires
11. Advanced vehicle fires
12. Trucks and buses

A perfect fit

“This seems to be a perfect fit between the emergency services and the collision industry,” Hoffman asserts. “We both benefit when we work together.” Insurers and automakers are also pitching in to assist. “The insurance companies are good about donating cars to be cut apart,” he says. “I’m working with the manufacturers to get the designs ahead of time so they know what to do when the cars hit the streets.”

Hoffman teaches every course offered by I-CAR, which has recognized him with its Chairman’s Award and Instructor of the Year honors. In 2004 he taught 450 classes of I-CAR instruction. The National Auto Body Council has presented him with its National Pride Award.

Although Hoffman, who lives in Missouri City, Texas, reports that he is booked solid through July 2006, he does make onsite visits to conduct emergency worker training.

His efforts have won rave reviews from tough audiences.

“First, I was amazed how much I thought I knew about vehicles and realized how much I didn’t know,” says Jay Acebo, battalion chief of special operations for the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Department. “I was impressed with Todd’s teaching ability and demeanor. Finally, I was amazed that we were receiving this class for free. This was one of the best classes that I had ever taken related to vehicles and extrication.

“The goal of Todd’s class is to share his expertise and most importantly get people to communicate and share ideas,” Acebo observes. “Todd realizes that there are many ways to teach students how to stabilize a vehicle, tear off a door, roll/lift a dash and remove a roof. Providing hands-on training generates discussion and develops new and innovative ideas to what can be a difficult and challenging emergency. Todd’s goals were accomplished each day and the students all left with a smile on their face and feeling of accomplishment. In all, over 120 firefighters participated in tearing up over 30 vehicles.”

Hoffman has also shared his expertise in the May 2005 issue of FireChief Magazine. The highly technical piece, headlined “Pry, Pry Again,” can be viewed online at:

http://firechief.com/mag/firefighting_pry_pry_again050105/index.html

The article delves into complex details featuring the making of pie-shaped cuts to free certain panels and tackling tasks such as a latch attack, hinge attack, third-door conversion and fifth-door conversion – all terms and challenges that emergency personnel deal with at crash scenes. (If a latch is stuck, a tennis ball or racquetball placed under the handle may allow the door of open with minimum effort.)

Hoffman got involved with the intricacies of extrication several years ago when he was invited by a fire brigade to offer instruction about airbags. “One of their members worked at a body shop and he had attended one of my (I-CAR) classes,” he recalls. “So I went to this meeting of a volunteer department and 250 people showed up.”

His shock at the demand for training led Hoffman to pursue the subject further. “I started working with some of the pros in the fire service” who advised him of their most critical instructional needs. They also told him of the money crunch that permeates smaller departments – hence Hoffman’s desire to offer the training for free.

Donations from the collision industry and other sources are being solicited to fund the project because most of the nation’s emergency departments are small and unable to afford key pieces of equipment, let alone the production costs associated with Hoffman’s program. “So far 100 percent of the funding has come out of my pocket,” he says.

For every donation, a monthly newsletter is sent updating donors on the effort’s progress and advancements in airbag and hybrid technology. Any donation of $1,000 or more gets the donor’s name placed in the program as a supporter. Donations of $10,000 or more list the donor as a sponsor.

“With the help of the collision industry we can get everyone up to speed,” he says. “I get dozens of e-mails a day requesting training and information.”

More information can be obtained online at www.sceneoftheaccident.com, or via e-mail: hoffman@ev1.net. He also can be reached via telephone at (713) 553-6279 or (281) 403-7997.