Biomechanical analysis of spinal misalignment during Vehicular extrication maneuvers performed by professional rescue teams.

Objective: To compare spinal misalignment and execution time of 3 rescue maneuvers for casualties in traffic accidents.

Materials And Methods: Biomechanical analysis using inertial sensors to measure the range of spinal misalignment and execution time of 3 maneuvers: 1) standard manual rescue (SMR); 2) rapid extrication device (RED); 3) extrication device (ED). The sample consisted of 117 rescue professionals (firefighters) from 14 Autonomous Communities in Spain. The total range of motion and the execution time of maneuvers were compared using ANOVA.

Results: The highest range of cervical flexion-extension movement was recorded with RED (30° ± 9°). There were no statistically significant differences between SMR (21° ± 9°) and ED (21° ± 10°). In dorsal flexion-extension, the highest range of movement was with RED (36° ± 10°), followed by ED (30° ± 7°), with the lowest found for SMR (26° ± 11°). RED presented the least restriction of cervical (p < 0.001) and dorsal movement (p < 0.001). The quickest maneuver was SMR (average of 55″), followed by RED (average of 92″), with a considerable difference using ED (average of 225″) (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The standard manual rescue maneuver (SMR) generated the smallest range of spinal movement and also required the shortest execution time.