Suffering a traffic accident can be very dramatic but having rescue sheets is critical to ensuring that it doesn’t become even worse. No measures are enough to try to avoid accidents, which are one of the biggest killers in Spain.
We usually place great importance on accident prevention. It is clearly the case that the best way to avoid them is by preventing them. But we rarely focus on how important it is to know what to do in the event of an accident and the information that may make our reaction quick and efficient. For this purpose we have the rescue sheet.
What are rescue sheets for?
In the event of a traffic accident, rescue sheets allow the emergency services to decide what steps to take in the extrication process according to the vehicle’s make, model, and year of manufacture.
Statistics show that a rescue sheet stored in a vehicle and provided to firefighters helps to quickly determine how the rescue will be effected in over 60% of emergencies.
And, if that wasn’t enough, there is a chilling figure to go with the previous one: up to three quarters of fatal victims in traffic accidents die within an hour. This underlines just how important it is to act quickly.
What information do rescue sheets provide?
Rescue sheets contain information about vehicles such as make, model, and year of manufacture. The emergency services can use them to quickly access the vehicle data sheet and owner’s manual, and determine how to carry out the extrication.
By checking these specifications, the rescue teams can quickly ascertain the most appropriate cutting areas for cars. This allows them to determine where to cut away a panel or pierce the vehicle to open it, which grants time at critical moments.
They also gain information on the model of the car involved in the accident so they can know what mechanism the door they need to force open contains, for example.
Where should the rescue sheet be stored?
As they aim to provide information in difficult situations, they should be stored in a visible area where they won’t be lost. We must take into consideration that the person looking for it in our vehicle needs to be able to find it very quickly.
That’s why it is recommended that we keep more than one copy. This means we can store the original with the other vehicle documents. The best way to store the second copy is attaching it to the sun visor with an adhesive. This area can usually be checked easily from outside the car. For greater safety, we can also place a sticker on our windshield to notify the emergency services that we have a copy.
The importance of rescue sheets cannot be overstated. A quick look at its contents can lead to a quicker and safer extrication and save the life of the driver and his/her passengers.
Photo: User:Feranza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
