By Thomas F. Kenney
I recently participated in the “Field Force Extrication Tactics,” developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It specifically deals with the devices protestors use to immobilize, connect, and block in violation of the law. Protest threats; legal considerations; types of devices; and, most interestingly, the extrication team are discussed. The majority of fire departments carry the extrication tool assortment needed to defeat the devices used by protestors. This portion of the class is the focus of this article.
Materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), steel, and concrete are the common components of protestors’ devices. Purposeful entrapment in these devices does not pose the urgency commonly seen in accidental entrapment. The major reason for this is that these are nontraumatic events. They should remain that way until extrication has been completed. There is clearly the potential for injury if the protestors are moved while they are connected to each other by these devices; in some cases, they may be anchored to immovable objects such as a building or a guardrail.
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