By Tom Guns and Dennis L. Rubin
A request was transmitted over the Brown County (WI) Radio Communications 800 MHz fire frequency to send assistance for a "tractor overturned on a man at 3875 Dickinson Road." This brief request from Ledgeview (WI) Fire Department (LFD) Engine 1811 was the beginning of an extended extrication that would take a half-dozen fire and public safety agencies to resolve (Table 1). The initial dispatch was for the LFD along with De Pere (WI) Fire Rescue Department (DPFRD) Ambulance 121 (paramedic), Engine 111, and Chief 101. Sometimes, initial dispatch information can be a bit limited, based on the information the Dispatch Center receives. Often, the event turns out to be quite different from what was expected or described. This response was more difficult to resolve than expected.
Before this extrication operation was completed and the patient flown out to definitive medical care, the regional fire-rescue services were tested to nearly the breaking point. Six departments had to pool their personnel, apparatus, and equipment. It took everyone working together for just under two hours to free the man from the rolled-over and crushed John Deere 9360 tractor.
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