Pretoria - Tshwane Emergency Services and other rescue personnel struggled for 40 minutes to rescue a man who was trapped in his vehicle which was wedged under the front part of a heavy truck.
Using an array of tools to cut away several parts of the vehicle, while a medical officer tried to stabilise the patient, they eventually managed to rescue the man.
This was made possible through a team effort consisting of firefighters and medical crews from the Gauteng Emergency Medical Services and other private ambulance services.
The emergency services were called to the scene on the R101 near Murray Hill late on Saturday afternoon.
The crew of four from Temba in Hammanskraal were the first to arrive on the scene, where they found a man stuck in his car.
It appeared that more vehicles were involved, but the crews immediately prioritised stabilising and extracting the man trapped in the car.
The vehicle was wedged with cribbing and both passenger doors of the car were removed to get a paramedic inside, who started with emergency medical treatment.
As soon as the patient was stabilised, the roof of the vehicle was removed to create more working space.
As the weight of the truck was resting on the vehicle, it was difficult to free the patient as his legs were trapped from the knees down, said Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Charles Mabaso.
Rescue personnel were able to clear the car parts around the patient, including the handbrake, dashboard and steering wheel. They eventually managed to slide a spine board underneath him to lift him out of the car.
The man suffered numerous injuries, including fractures to both legs.
He was transported to a hospital in a critical condition.
Mabaso said the success of the rescue operation was due to the professional manner and collaboration of the various teams on the scene.
Pretoria News