@ai6yr The article briefly mentions they built a field rig to lift/shift the boulder. As someone interested in engineering, I'd be curious. The photo suggests that maybe they wrapped it in a webbing, then pulled it off of him, perhaps with a winch.

That's the kind of object where if the other end of the winch is something like one of those fire trucks, you might drag the truck along the gravel more than move the boulder, even with the parking brake set on every wheel.

@scottmiller42 @ai6yr
They've got better photos and videos at https://www.facebook.com/clackamasfire/posts/pfbid02RxUmxLowEdg2hoVNWWrKtz9Mr5XxtgecEgJuFsHkdLSZbdZgNNGxumhTP3KgZNHnl

Looks like they squeezed in one wooden wedge at a time until they could get the patient out from under it. So just winching an inch at a time, and making sure it couldn't drop back down to the starting position.

@me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr It's more than just lifting the weight without risk of it falling back down...as the weight is removed, you have to be looking out for bleeding. With crush injuries the weight is often all that's keeping the blood on the inside.

I know several of you are pros at this; I only had one day-long course in lifting heavy objects off of trapped people, focusing on tilt-up construction, not boulders. I'm open to corrections!

@me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr

My one day was a disaster also...group of four trainees. When I was getting my turns with the dummy under the slabs, the other three were supposed to be managing the lifting and cribbing, and they weren't. So I was yelling orders at them while trying to pass the class while also trying to avoid being crushed by these morons as they repeatedly dropped the slab.

Teamwork is a lot of fun, really.

@W6KME @MsMerope @me_valentijn @ai6yr I’m sure field rescue is hard, and I’d be incompetent. Thinking & acting quickly under pressure is not my forte. Ruminating on a challenging problem that takes days of thought is more my thing.

That said one skill doing IT at very large company has taught me: you can’t do your own job if you are double-checking everyone else. Maybe a team lead, but in cases like this, it’s probably more down to picking the people who can be depended upon.

@W6KME @scottmiller42 @me_valentijn @ai6yr

yeah, it's amazing how people actually react to chaos.

We've got a volunteer who can regurgitate all the medical hows, whys, and wherefores - but every time I've been at an event with them where the 🩸 hits the pavement? They freeze up.

and trauma is mostly what we deal with.

@Dougfir @MsMerope @W6KME @scottmiller42 @me_valentijn @ai6yr

i was all set to go into pharmacy like my dad and grandfather until i found out you had to cut open dead animals in school.

in middle school biology, when we were supposed to dissect a worm, i brought in a note that i was a conscientious objector.

@lauren @paul_ipv6 @Dougfir @MsMerope @W6KME @scottmiller42 @me_valentijn @ai6yr reminds me of animal tech, we were warned up front that of the student cohort there was a good chance 2-3 of us would develop a new allergy to the species we wanted to work with by the time we were qualified to do so (or by a few years into the job).

We all wore n95s to work every day (best known prevention, as the phenomenon is caused by constant daily inhalation of tiny particles) and luckily it never happened to anyone I knew. But it does happen a lot in that career

@ai6yr @ElyseMGrasso @coolandnormal @lauren @paul_ipv6 @Dougfir @MsMerope @W6KME @me_valentijn Proto industrialized people just did all kinds of crazy crap.

Did you know that when I was a child, they routinely added lead to gasoline? On purpose? And not just a wee dram, but EPA estimates 200,000 tons per year [1].

Tons per year.

[1] https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/epa-requires-phase-out-lead-all-grades-gasoline.html

@scottmiller42 @ai6yr @ElyseMGrasso @coolandnormal @lauren @Dougfir @MsMerope @W6KME @me_valentijn

engines were designed to take advantage of the lead in the gas. if you have one of that era of car, you need a special additive to not have the engine "knock"...

in roman times, they deliberately added lead to drinking water.

@paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @ElyseMGrasso @coolandnormal @lauren @Dougfir @MsMerope @W6KME @me_valentijn There are other octane boosters, though. I don't know to what extent I believe this, but some claim a primary reason tetraethyl lead was selected was that it was patentable. Then inertia would continue its use long after the patent ran out.

I didn't find any cite-worthy sources in a quick search, so do with that what you will.

@W6KME @scottmiller42 @paul_ipv6 @ai6yr @ElyseMGrasso @coolandnormal @lauren @Dougfir @MsMerope @me_valentijn My understanding was it also acted as a sort of cushion between the valve and seat.

no idea how much lead I breathed in growing up near Los Angeles in the 60s/70s. Thx, Ethyl Corp.