Pocono News Section

Saving Lives and Dealing With the Cold

Saving Lives and Dealing With the Cold - Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 11:52AM EST

Reported by: David DeCosmo
Thursday, Feb 28, 2008 @11:52am EST

ROARING BROOK TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Reports of a car rollover in Lackawanna County put some emergency responders to the test in the midst of frigid temperatures Thursday morning in Roaring Brook Township. The low temperatures enhanced the challenges to the situation.

It was pitch dark and bitter cold when volunteers from the Elmhurst/Roaring Brook Fire Company pulled up to the scene of a car crash off Route 307 just south of Lake Scranton. Within minutes Scranton City and Pennsylvania State Police along with Moscow emergency services responded as well. They found a Jeep lying on its side at the bottom of a steep hill. That situation had volunteers facing several immediate problems.

Portable lighting had to be set up quickly so the firemen could see what they were doing. Then a ladder had to be positioned on the hillside so the rescuers could get their equipment to the overturned vehicle. The driver had to be removed on a backboard and was carried up the steep bank. All of this, of course, was done in temperatures hovering in the single digits.

The rescuers said they do what they can to be ready for these conditions.

Volunteer Fireman Brian Seely explained "What you try to do is get yourself prepared for the elements. You wear a heavier shirt, a heavier pair of socks. I keep my bunker pants in the house so they're nice and warm when you go to get in them. That helps a little bit. Then you just go to the call."

"You got to go, you've got to go. You get up you get dressed. Fortunately we have a coal stove in the basement and I have my bunker gear next to it. It’s nice and warm when I get into it. So that helps a little bit" stated Volunteer Fireman Walter Serowinski.

The victim in this accident was out of his SUV and on his way to the hospital in less than a half hour. Most of the responders hoped to grab some sleep before facing another call in the cold.

"That's just part of the job" added Seely.

The driver actually had to be removed through the back of the Jeep. There's no word on his name or condition. But firefighters said he was alert and speaking with them as he was taken from the scene.