109LWB:
It’s not unusual for the vehicle to be removed to a safe and controlled site in order for the person to be extracted in horrific incidents like this.
Recall speaking to a customer in Bristol who’s company had to recover a car that had been flattened by a rolled over container truck. The fire service and police had to carefully chip away at what was left of the car in order to get to the body without further damaging it. Took several hours and wasn’t really suitable to be done at the scene.
Recovery drivers must be made of Stone, risking thier lives everyday and then having to deal with stuff like that.
I worked the crash unit for more than 5yrs straight, all I did was hang around the yard waiting for the call, I’m out of it now but still keep my hand in for weekends & holiday cover. It’s a lot busier than most folk realise, our area covers half a city then half the county so we have all types of roads covered. We also have the crime vehicles but that’s a totally different ball game.
It is VERY unusual for recovery to be on scene with the bodies still there. We are civillians & treated as such by all the services but it does happen & when it does you know beforehand & told what to expect. I’ve never met anyone who’s hardened to it & that includes the services. The best way to deal with it is to not make it personal. I quickly learned to stop reading news follow ups to the ones we recover, you do not want the names, the circumstances, the ‘back story’ in your head.
I have a particularly horrific story I tell to those who insist, not even hollywood could create a scenario so horrible, of the few I’ve told it too no one has ever wanted more. It made my dad wipe a tear when I sat with him shortly after.
It is difficult to be near a vehicle in the yard with the mobile ringing & it is difficult to not turn that phone off. Nobody touches them 'cos you soon learned to realise what’s happening. What did it for me was a baby seat covered in blood, I knew that 3 people were reported to have died & looking at the car that’s mum & dad in the front, they certainly died instantly, & baby in the back. It really hits you if you understand that dead bodies don’t bleed.
The fire brigade often practice in our yard, we supply them with lots of vehicles off to the scrap yard & it is a joy to watch their teamwork, their intensity of focus & how they solve problems on the spot. It was while watching them years ago that I asked the crew chief how they dealt with it, he scribbled down a number & said I could ring this 24/7.
Please don’t ever think anyone involved in this is made of stone, we’re not.
The one BIG thing I have learned & it’s something I tell everyone, “you can be the best driver in the world but it does not stop you being involved in someone else’s bad driving”. Have a think about that !
