# 1 Car MVA...mine



## mikie (Oct 19, 2008)

I let my friend (roommate) and his girl borrow my car for the night.  Somehow he hesitated if it was the correct exit or not (GPS was being used), skidded and somehow ended up rolling it once.  

They walked out with NO scratches, no bruises, pain or anything.  It is amazing.  I am glad they're OK.  My car isn't but that's what insurance is for.  FD was on scene before I got there and I guess they cleared them medically (left before I got there too).  I arrived 20min after, saw my car but started my _patient assessment_ first.  Amazing how they're OK.

I've seen wrecks like this before and never have I seen the two passengers OK!

So much for having that jump bag in the trunk B)

So that pretty much sums up my weekend.  However, I have been too calm about it.  Waiting for the insurance co. for an estimate on damages. 














-Anyone else seen people walk from MVAs, surprised they're medically OK despite what you've seen before?


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## scottmcleod (Oct 19, 2008)

It's hard to tell, but looks like a low speed roll-over. They were lucky.

Know the feeling, though not in a "personal" manner like you (your car, your friends...) The one that really gets me all the time is Formula One crashes. I understand the physics of what happens to the crash box and crumple zones, but man... watching their heads bounce around and/or get dragged upside down across the tarmac/grass/gravel, it makes ZERO sense to me.


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## mycrofft (Oct 19, 2008)

*In the late Seventies and early Eighties I noticed something.*

(This was before airbags, after seatbelts and some cars had shoulder harnesses. No inertia reels at first. Many older cars out there without, also without padded dashes etc. Crumple zones, headrests, were evolving, and shock absorbing steering columns and bumper cartridges were in place on new cars).
Autos which rolled once or twice, or slowly, had fewer fatalities (when I was around) than those that stayed shiny side up but made like bumper cars. I think it was like Jackie Chan says; when you hit, keep it moving no matter how, translate the energy into movement and not deceleration. We took a drunk out of a early VW Beetle which flipped _end over end_ three times before coming to rest on its wheels with the roof lowered a couple inches and all he needed weres stitches and Tylenol. On the other hand, I saw one pt dead on scene and another who went sour minutes after arrival, both from high c spine insult, were in cars that stayed upright. Go figure.


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## reaper (Oct 19, 2008)

Man, you should have pushed it over and drove it home. There is hardly any damage!

I have been on scenes where the vehicle was ripped in two parts. All three pt's go out with no injuries. It just happens sometimes.(mostly to drunks!)


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## marineman (Oct 20, 2008)

We had a 14 year old kid take his 12 year old brother out for a joy ride in his dads BMW Z3 right after dad left on his honeymoon. Police investigators estimated 7 times end over end and a pair of barrel rolls before it stopped. Estimated speed was 130ish on a curve posted as 25mph. Luckily the police caught dad on the phone 10 minutes before he boarded the plane to Jamaica. Kids were transported and ready to be released before dad got back from the airport.


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## traumateam1 (Oct 20, 2008)

mikie said:
			
		

> -Anyone else seen people walk from MVAs, surprised they're medically OK despite what you've seen before?


The last major MVC I've seen/attended was a multiple roll over. Parts of the engine had flown out of the engine compartment and landed 50 some feet away. The single occupant got out, we checked him out (detailed physical, vitals, etc) and we were able to clear him. It was pretty amazing.. usually it's the people that get ejected from the vehicles and not the engine components.. not this time tho 



			
				reaper said:
			
		

> It just happens sometimes.(mostly to drunks!)


Aint that the truth eh!?! ^_^


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## traumateam1 (Oct 20, 2008)

marineman said:


> We had a 14 year old kid take his 12 year old brother out for a joy ride in his dads BMW Z3 right after dad left on his honeymoon. Police investigators estimated 7 times end over end and a pair of barrel rolls before it stopped. Estimated speed was 130ish on a curve posted as 25mph. Luckily the police caught dad on the phone 10 minutes before he boarded the plane to Jamaica. Kids were transported and ready to be released before dad got back from the airport.



One word: Ouch.


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## marineman (Oct 20, 2008)

It was absolutely unbelievable, the county dispatcher actually had the coroner on the way when she got the report from police. I still feel safer in my pickup truck but goodness I can never say a bad thing about the safety ratings of those little cars again.


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## scottmcleod (Oct 20, 2008)

marineman said:


> It was absolutely unbelievable, the county dispatcher actually had the coroner on the way when she got the report from police. I still feel safer in my pickup truck but goodness I can never say a bad thing about the safety ratings of those little cars again.



High speed cars are designed to crash at high speeds. (see: supercars)

If you crash them at "regular fast" speeds, you're probably better off than a car that was designed to crash at a lower top speed...

I'm sure it also has to do with younger/lighter bodies, less mass, etc... (Probably a few angels looking down on them too)


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## mycrofft (Oct 20, 2008)

*Hidden injuries and " 'tow-UP" cars.*

People can be medically cleared and suffer pain and disability years down the road due to consequent insults they are more vulnerable to due to injury declared healed or nonextant at the time of medical care being declard "won". Part of life. Luck you aren't napping with the worms.

Tore up cars...we have a street racing trouble hereabouts. Other cars drive into these kids speeding in their rice rockets so relative speeds are around 100 plus MPH causing a high spin coefficient due to lateral contact and force moments.

In other words, last year a "bystander" car pulled out into a speeding Civic carrying four kids. Bystander car spun onto lawn and driver dead. Civic: wreckage continued down road, engine tore off with the firewall and tumbled "a hundred yards further" per local paper. Driver OK (cuts and minor fx), front seat passenger (restrained and air bag) busted up a little, rear seat unrestrained passengers kilt. Extrication was short board, unbuckle front seatbelt, and take straight out to cot, front seaters' legs were dangling in the air.


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## scottmcleod (Oct 20, 2008)

mycrofft said:


> In other words, last year a "bystander" car pulled out into a speeding Civic carrying four kids. Bystander car spun onto lawn and driver dead. Civic: wreckage continued down road, engine tore off with the firewall and tumbled "a hundred yards further" per local paper. Driver OK (cuts and minor fx), front seat passenger (restrained and air bag) busted up a little, rear seat unrestrained passengers kilt. Extrication was short board, unbuckle front seatbelt, and take straight out to cot, front seaters' legs were dangling in the air.



No KED? (RE: dangling legs)


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## m_b_williamson (Nov 27, 2008)

ya mvas are always scary, sometimes the people you think are doa are walk aways, and the ones you think are walk aways are doa. if theres one thing ive learned by working ems its that crotch-rockets and rice-burners kill people, well usually its the victims fault but still, it sux.


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## KEVD18 (Nov 27, 2008)

man i wish that anti bumping feature was 30 days instead of 90..............


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## FF894 (Nov 27, 2008)

I'm with reaper, push it back over and drive it home.  Lights are still good.


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## mycrofft (Nov 30, 2008)

*Drunks...*

They either get into accidents no one can survive, or they get out of mild to moderate ones apparently unharmed. Anyone have statistics on that?


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## aussieemt1980 (Dec 2, 2008)

I have seen a family of four walk away from a high speed rollover - I was in the passenger seat when it happened!

About a year ago, my wife lost control of the Toyota Hilux when we hit an oil slick in the wet at about 90 km/h. We turned 90 degrees, hit a crash barrier, and rolled 3 times down the road as we bounced all over the place. At some point the crash barrier impacted the roof over my head, but by this stage I had been knocked out. The roof caved in over the top of me, and a sharp point missed my head by centimetres. After I came to, the kids in the back seat were screaming, and so was the wife, so I checked for spinal and entrapment.

Being rescue trained, I knew that we would be trapped in the car. We had to be from the impact, but I opened the door on my side (the worse damage on the car was over my head!) and we all walked away. I was the worst injured with a small laceration on my scalp. 

Someone upstairs was watching out for us I am sure of it. Attached are the pictures of what was left of the vehicle.


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## smokey (Dec 9, 2008)

ya mine. i was driving out of the forest last week sunday. last day of hunting. drivin out i was goin bout 25-3O. deer comes out so i go to stop. hit a rut and it curved me into the ditch where i rolled upside down and into a tree. i had some trouble getting out cuz being upside down in a minivan doesnt make it easy. oh well. i finally got it and crawled out through a window. minor cuts on the hands and a nice scratch on the arm. oh well cpl hunters helped me flip it up and i drove home.


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## exodus (Dec 15, 2008)

aussieemt1980 said:


> I have seen a family of four walk away from a high speed rollover - I was in the passenger seat when it happened!
> 
> About a year ago, my wife lost control of the Toyota Hilux when we hit an oil slick in the wet at about 90 km/h. We turned 90 degrees, hit a crash barrier, and rolled 3 times down the road as we bounced all over the place. At some point the crash barrier impacted the roof over my head, but by this stage I had been knocked out. The roof caved in over the top of me, and a sharp point missed my head by centimetres. After I came to, the kids in the back seat were screaming, and so was the wife, so I checked for spinal and entrapment.
> 
> ...



Wow, that's amazing. It actually looks like you rolled onto a tree or something? But being able to walk away from something like that is just crazy.


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## ChristinaM (Dec 31, 2008)

I ran a nasty MVC recently that amazed everyone on scene.

A very large part of our zone is rural and there is a stretch of road in our zone that meets with the county line to the south that is particularly bad... lots of MVCs on that road.

We got called to a rollover/hit a tree, witnessed by another driver without additional information. We arrived on scene right behind fire to find a midsize Toyota on the roof resting up against a huge tree. The car was badly mangled with the roof virtually flattened and every window broken out - looked like it had rolled several times before it hit the tree. The only visible part of the patient were his feet sticking out the driver side window toes down. We detected no movement with encouragement and all of us had pretty much accepted the idea that this was a signal-7. While fire was trying to figure out how to extricate him from the vehicle, we took of his shoe and sock and put the pulse oximetry on his toe. Amazingly he was 98% and had a pulse of 80. It took fire more than 30 minutes to extricate him and they had to carefully pull him out the front passenger side of the vehicle and onto a board for spinal immobilization. He did start moving his legs and feet just before he was pulled free.

We all just about died when we saw that he did not have a scratch on him and no apparent injuries. He was responsive to painful stimuli and would open his eyes. He was rank with the smell of ETOH (BIIIIG surprise). We had already called a trauma alert before he was extricated and had a helicopter on the way, which landed just as we finished boarding him. We felt comfortable with the trauma alert based on altered level (no way of knowing if from alcohol or head injury, etc.) and paramedic intuition.

That's something you just don't see every day. I think someone upstairs was giving him a warning... I won't be so nice next time. :glare:


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## Vonny (Dec 31, 2008)

*little brat*



marineman said:


> Kids were transported and ready to be released before dad got back from the airport.



I have stepsons like that but they were a bit older, almost my own age, would have done anything to ruin the honymoon!!!


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