Vinton Alfreds, George Hilton and Andries van den Berg
HORROR DOUBLE-DECKER BUS CRASH

28 June 2008. Shortly after starting his nightshift and in the process of clearing an accident scene, George Hilton Fire Fighter and Crew Commander from the Thokoza Fire Station got a call from a local towing company to report that a double-decker bus had overturned with multiple entrapments inside.

Around 40 people lay scattered around the accident scene. To make matters worse, two other cars were involved in the accident, each with 4 additional patients entrapped in these vehicles.

George radioed colleague Vinton Alfreds to tell him about the accident and that their control room had already dispatched the surrounding stations, including ICV’s (incident command vehicles) from Boksburg and Disaster Management.

With no time to lose, Vinton and Andries van den Berg, both Fire Fighters and Crew Commanders from Alberton Station 3, made their way to the accident scene where they were met by a swarm of emergency vehicles. There were EMS personnel and patients everywhere. The two cars involved in the accident both had life threatening entrapments.

On site, Vinton, Andries and George were instructed to focus their rescue efforts on a 14-year old girl trapped inside the bus.

They found the luxury, double-decker tour bus lying on its side on a slope. It was a struggle to gain entry but they climbed in through the front window to get to their patient, not knowing what to expect. The rest of the crew faced a tremendous challenge trying to stabilize the bus. Once inside, they knew that finding their way in the dark was going to be a problem. Entering a bus on its side was a first for all of them. The sides of the luxury tour bus became the floor and the roof became the side.

They started clearing away onboard luggage on their way in and were met by an Advanced Life Support paramedic, a couple of helpers and, finally, their terrified 14-year old patient. She was lying on her side with her arm through the window, the bus resting on top of it. She was completely stuck from her hand to her elbow. To make things worse, she was lying on the panel between the seats so Vinton, Andries and George had no access to their patient.

They could stand between the seats, but then they couldn’t crouch down. Alternatively, they could lie on top of the seats on their stomachs, or hook their legs in and hang upside down like bats.

They started to cut as much of the bus away from her as they could. The upside down rescue had started. What seemed like a 30-minute rescue was now taking more than an hour. A paramedic on the scene saw the impossibility of freeing the patient’s arm and suggested that an amputation may be their only option. Vinton, Andries and George just looked at him, not a single word was said. They knew the protocol, but they didn’t want to give up just yet.

At last they had their first victory. The girl was repositioned by removing a seat pressing up against her. She was made more comfortable and it gave them a better workspace too. A second suggestion was made from outside that the crew wanted to lift the bus with a big recovery rig.

Vinton, Andries and George were worried. Trying to lift the massive bus could make it slide because of the angle of the slope. Their patient’s arm might be further damaged and there was the risk that she might get pulled in further under the bus. Not a viable option for them and they asked for more time.

Due to the limited work space they couldn’t use any of the equipment on the fire engine. Using small pieces of pipe from the chairs they removed, they dug a hole around the girl’s arm - two at a time. The third member would look after the patient. This led to their second victory. For the first time they had some clarity on how the young girl’s arm was trapped.

Her arm from her elbow was flat on the ground with the bus resting on top of it. The hole they dug was about 35cm deep when they hit rock bottom and couldn’t go any deeper. Not ready to give up, they started to tunnel in under the bus with their new ‘make-shift’ tools and cleared a space on both sides of the young patient’s arm. Thereafter they dug with their hands, as they did not want to cause any more discomfort or damage to the patient’s arm.

Just working on hand power alone, they finally got the ground cleared from around her arm and hand, however her hand was still stuck. The team had to face the uncomfortable knowledge that their own weight was pushing her arm down even more. Vinton, Andries and George all got into the hole, took hold of the panel and started to lift it. Vinton guided her arm out from under the bus. It was 2 hours later but they had the ultimate victory. She was free.

They washed her arm, stabilized it and bandaged her for the trip to Union Hospital. They carried her all the way to the ambulance.

Once outside, they were met by the enormity of the full accident scene around them, and saw how rough things were for their fellow EMS personnel. There were only two stations left. Everybody had left to hospitals to assist with patient care, even after they had done their part.

Vinton, Andries and George couldn’t accompany their young patient to hospital because their work wasn’t finished yet. They bid her a short farewell and told her that they would visit her as soon as they had finished on the scene. As the doors closed and the ambulance left, they took a moment to pat each other on the back, feeling an incredible sense of joy and relief before getting back to the grueling work of extrication.

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