04 - Initial Procedures

Initial Procedures is the fourth title in Action Training Systems' Vehicle Extrication series, and SkillsTrain, the authorised Action Training Systems (ATS) distributor in South Africa, supplies it locally. With the vehicle stabilised and its hazards controlled in the preceding titles, this title covers the first practical access work, the opening moves of the extrication itself.

The title demonstrates how to reach the patient and make early contact, how to access the vehicle's battery, part of isolating the electrical system, and how to open a jammed boot or trunk to create a way in or a route to tools and casualties in the rear. It shows how to remove a windshield cleanly, and how to create interior space around a trapped casualty so that they can be assessed and treated while the fuller extrication is planned. These are the techniques that buy access and room before the larger door, roof and interior procedures begin.

It uses the same teach, test and track model as the rest of the ATS range: a learner is assessed as they move through the title, and any section answered incorrectly is replayed before they are allowed to continue. The programme runs about 16 minutes and is supplied on USB or as a classroom streaming option, individually or as part of the complete ten-title series.

Within the ten-title Vehicle Extrication pathway, SkillsTrain supplies this title between Hazard Control and Safety and the Door and Sidewall Procedures that follow, so a crew can move from hazard control into hands-on access in a logical order.

Who it is for: rescue technicians moving from hazard awareness into the first hands-on steps of a vehicle extrication.