donaldsgal
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2004
- Messages
- 2,002
I was watching CNN last night (~12 or 12:30 AM) and saw a report on what to do if you're in an accident and your car lands in water and starts to sink. This has always been something I've feared, so I was interested and ended up learning a lot. I've seen similar things on Oprah shows and such, but this was an interesting one and a bit more informative than other shows I've seen.
Karla Guiterrez was driving on a Florida Turnpike in Feb of 2001 when her car skidded off the road into a canal. She called 911, and she tried to tell the operator her location for 3 minutes while her car sank. The 911 operator kept asking her if she could get out a window or a door. She said she could not.
She drowned while on the phone with 911. No one could help her, find her location, or save her.
The reporter of the story, which was national news in 2001, participated in a stunt to demonstrate how to get out of a sinking car alive. Here's what you do:
1. As soon as your car hits the water, get out of the seatbelt (that you were hopefully wearing).
2. Unlock the door
3. Roll the window down.
(These steps should occur even as you're sinking)
4. Put you right leg up on the seat next to you as you turn your body to the side.
5. Put your hands on the outside of the window where the door meets the roof.
6. Pull yourself out with your hands as you push yourself out with your foot.
7. Get to a seated position on the window, and then just push off into the water.
You can remember the acronym P-O-G-O to get out: Pop the belt, Open the window, and Get Out!
Now, the reporter did this 4 times. The first time, he got out quickly because the car hit the water, started to sink, and then leveled off. The seond time, however, the car hit the water and sort of turned at an angle. This meant the water was rushing in faster and he had to fight against a greater current of water rushing in. The third time, he got out okay again. However, on the fourth try, they demonstrated what to do if you cannot get the window down or the door open.
A mistake Karla made - one the 911 operator didn't know to correct and one that many others have made as well - was thinking that it was safer to leave the window up so that you have more air in the car. WRONG! The water will get in one way or the other. Leaving the window up destroys the first and best option for escape - a window exit. When the reporter left the window up but remembered to unlock the door, neither he from the inside nor divers on the outside could pull or push the door open. He had to wait for them to lift the car out of the water. If no one had been there to help him, he would have died.
You may be thinking, as was I while I watched the show, "But I've got POWER windows!" Again a common myth they pointed out is that people think the water stops the engine or that they'll get elotrocuted if they leave the car running. They pull out their car keys when the hit the water. WRONG! Leave the car running, because the battery will continue to operate for a period of time, allowing you to use your power window/power door lock control to get the window down.
If the window simply won't open or you can't fit out of it, get out by the door. This will ONLY work if the pressure is equal on both sides of the door - meaning you did get the window down enough that water is coming in and unlocked it.
Finally, if neither the windows or doors will work, hopefully you've got a "Center punch". It's got a point, so you put the point against the window and PUSH with all your might. It shatters the glass, and out you go. This is sold at most hardware stores and is inexpensive.
It was so, so, SO sad to hear a woman pleading for help. She thought she did the right thing - had a cell phone, called 911, tried to describe her location. No one had trained the 911 dispatcher on how to handle this, so she tried repeatedly to help and offer suggestions. It didn't work, and this girl died - while trying to get help.
I wanted to pass this on to the rest of you, not to scare you but educate us all. With the size of these boards, I'm sure someone knows someone else to whom this has happened. Education can help prevent tragedy.
I couldn't find the link to the CNN report last night, but I found one on the same story from NBC. Here's the link: http://www.dispatchfaster.com/articles/DatelineNBCdrowning.html
Karla Guiterrez was driving on a Florida Turnpike in Feb of 2001 when her car skidded off the road into a canal. She called 911, and she tried to tell the operator her location for 3 minutes while her car sank. The 911 operator kept asking her if she could get out a window or a door. She said she could not.
She drowned while on the phone with 911. No one could help her, find her location, or save her.
The reporter of the story, which was national news in 2001, participated in a stunt to demonstrate how to get out of a sinking car alive. Here's what you do:
1. As soon as your car hits the water, get out of the seatbelt (that you were hopefully wearing).
2. Unlock the door
3. Roll the window down.
(These steps should occur even as you're sinking)
4. Put you right leg up on the seat next to you as you turn your body to the side.
5. Put your hands on the outside of the window where the door meets the roof.
6. Pull yourself out with your hands as you push yourself out with your foot.
7. Get to a seated position on the window, and then just push off into the water.
You can remember the acronym P-O-G-O to get out: Pop the belt, Open the window, and Get Out!
Now, the reporter did this 4 times. The first time, he got out quickly because the car hit the water, started to sink, and then leveled off. The seond time, however, the car hit the water and sort of turned at an angle. This meant the water was rushing in faster and he had to fight against a greater current of water rushing in. The third time, he got out okay again. However, on the fourth try, they demonstrated what to do if you cannot get the window down or the door open.
A mistake Karla made - one the 911 operator didn't know to correct and one that many others have made as well - was thinking that it was safer to leave the window up so that you have more air in the car. WRONG! The water will get in one way or the other. Leaving the window up destroys the first and best option for escape - a window exit. When the reporter left the window up but remembered to unlock the door, neither he from the inside nor divers on the outside could pull or push the door open. He had to wait for them to lift the car out of the water. If no one had been there to help him, he would have died.
You may be thinking, as was I while I watched the show, "But I've got POWER windows!" Again a common myth they pointed out is that people think the water stops the engine or that they'll get elotrocuted if they leave the car running. They pull out their car keys when the hit the water. WRONG! Leave the car running, because the battery will continue to operate for a period of time, allowing you to use your power window/power door lock control to get the window down.
If the window simply won't open or you can't fit out of it, get out by the door. This will ONLY work if the pressure is equal on both sides of the door - meaning you did get the window down enough that water is coming in and unlocked it.
Finally, if neither the windows or doors will work, hopefully you've got a "Center punch". It's got a point, so you put the point against the window and PUSH with all your might. It shatters the glass, and out you go. This is sold at most hardware stores and is inexpensive.
It was so, so, SO sad to hear a woman pleading for help. She thought she did the right thing - had a cell phone, called 911, tried to describe her location. No one had trained the 911 dispatcher on how to handle this, so she tried repeatedly to help and offer suggestions. It didn't work, and this girl died - while trying to get help.
I wanted to pass this on to the rest of you, not to scare you but educate us all. With the size of these boards, I'm sure someone knows someone else to whom this has happened. Education can help prevent tragedy.
I couldn't find the link to the CNN report last night, but I found one on the same story from NBC. Here's the link: http://www.dispatchfaster.com/articles/DatelineNBCdrowning.html
