Once again, a prime example has occurred that goes back to a person involved in this incident will only have what they carried at the time of the accident. And there is no rhyme or reason of when one might need their EDC.

I can see where a Buck 110 lock blade and my charged cellphone would have been useful, but the lighter, cigarettes, and pocket watch would not have been of much use.

Will electric windows open while a vehicle is under water?

Sue

If there were winders installed, would anyone except granny remember how to use them?

I've read a half-dozen or more accounts of car submersions (where equipped with electric windows). In every instance, the electric windows failed to function near-immediately. Might be exceptions, but I wouldn't want to count on it.

Wildman800's comments about EDC in a tragedy of this sort ... a reminder that an inexpensive tool like the ResQMe for windows and seatbelts is a worthwhile addition to car-interior EDC .

Thoughts and prayers to those involved in the bridge collapse and their families.

Dan

Usually, no.
I have a window punch & seatbelt cutter in every vehicle, located right where I can reach it without opening any latches.

But 64' is a LONG way to fall, I fear many were incapacitated and drowned, a horrible death.

Mythbusters recently tested this.
Remember water does not conduct electricity, its the impurities in water that does and even then its not a great conductor so its resistance is higher than that of the electric motor so the motor still gets most of the power.
The problem comes from the amounf of pressure pushing in ward on the window making it impossible to slide it down. The motor would actually work it just couldn't move the window and neither could the manual windows.
But if you waited long enough to where the car was full of water then the windows would roll down normally.

You could probably keep and extra spark plug in the side of your door to accomplish the same thing, couldn't you? It wouldn't cut your seatbelt but you would have an extra spark plug.

I don't know anything about cars (yeah I know shame on me) so I'm not sure that one spark plug would help if you needed it for your car. Don't they normally require more than one.

"But 64' is a LONG way to fall..."

Actually, I read today that several people said it didn't just drop straight down all at once, but went down sort of stair-stepping, in three or four steps... slam, jolt, slam, smash.

Just the same, how many people would be cool enough, have the knowledge, and be conscious or not impaired enough to get out? The last I read, they're expecting about 30 deaths. $hitty way to die.

Sue

Video of the event:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OA23jQcEGvQ

Yeah, well, I can't think of a good one, unless maybe it's heart attack or stroke while gettin' freaky with Charlize Theron.

In situations like this, the EDC or emergency items carried by the victims would be nearly useless due to their injuries and the positions of their vehicles.

However, I think the gear carried by the folks nearby who were not involved but rushed in selflessly, in some cases putting their own safety at risk, to help - that gear might just come in handy. Knives, punches, prybars, and especially first-aid, supplies, blankets, and water, would be very useful until the pros got to the scene.

I wonder how long it took for fire and rescue to arrive on the scene? It was the middle of the rush hour, and the traffic was practically at a standstill as it was, but the disaster probably caused gridlock for miles in all directions and made it tough for the rescue workers to get there. It's in that gap, the time between the disaster and the arrival of professional rescue help, that our EDC gear can be vital to the survival of the victims.

I think Will has hit it. It seems unlikely that your EDC would be much help if you are trying to escape a car that just fell in the river, but it sure would be a good thing if you were a bystander. And you'd sure want that bystander who just pulled you out of the river to have something to address the blood gushing out of your leg...

That said, think about it this way. Let's say that it had been sabotage. The city shuts down all the bridges to check them. You are stuck wherever you are with whatever you have.

There are lots of ways this can happen. Power outages take out the subways. Floods close the roads. Snow storms. Earthquakes.

I think it's a good idea to assume that you could get stuck pretty much anywhere for at least 24hrs with whatever you have on you.

-john

I think you and Will are both correct. I think it's time to redirect (aka: Hijack) this thread and put some thought to what we have as EDC and as BoB in order to assist in the response to this and other kinds of incidents that could call for assisting others AND to have what's needed for 24 hrs of being stuck in the city or just outside of the city, trying to get home, past roadblocks set up in response to an incident.

I am going to have to re-think some of my previous thinking.

Just to start off, I think a good FAK is a good place to start.

-john

Great thought, Wildman. Not a lot of threads seem deal with being prepared to render aid to others (beyond friends, family, camping trip companions, etc). Not that people wouldn't, its just that a lot of our posts might be read as suggesting an underlying "every man for himself" attitude. This is a refreshing change of perspective, I think.

I agree that being able to aid others implies taking care of yourself, too. If I pull a person out of a car who needs CPR, but incapacitate myself doing it and perhaps pass out, I have just made a bad situation worse. Like the cards in the pockets of the airline seats say, if the oxygen masks drop out of the overhead, put YOURS on BEFORE attempting to aid the person next to you.

Frank2135

Regardless of being a citizen first responder or just an unlucky commuter stuck in the resultant all-night traffic jam, keeping a not-going-anywhere-soon kit in your car is a good thing -- FAK, food, water, blankets, tools, boots, warm clothes. I need to add some rope in case climbing (up or down) is required.

I'm with RAS on this on. All those items could come in handy in many different situation.

Rope and a gallon of water. Dump half (or so) the water and tie the rope to the handle. You can throw the rope farther, and it will float. The jug might be more visible to a person in the water than the rope itself, due to their low angle of view.

Sue

You are always coming up with great ideas! I would suggest a yellow anti-freeze bottle, and a bright colored rope, might be easier for someone to see.

I once knew of a guy who thru his spare tire into the water to save a guy who was about to go down for the third time. Spare tires will float just fine. Just don't hit the swimmer in the noggin' with it...

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a flashlight. Disasters happen at night as well. My EDC pocket flashlight is a tiny ARC-AAA flashlight attached to a whistle. I carry it separate from my keyring. I also carry a SureFire G2 Nitrolon in my briefcase. It's compact, durable and bright.

I suspect the bridge collapse would have been much worse after dark, for several reasons.

First, the construction crew would have been gone and traffic would have been moving at a higher speed. That might have allowed more cars to drive off the edge before they realized the bridge was out. The saving grace here was that due to the way the bridge approaches collapsed I don't think the drop-off would have been directly into the water.

Second, in darkness the survivors would have had a much harder time moving to safety and being spotted by volunteer rescuers and first responders. The idea of drifting down a river in the dark scares me. I used to scuba dive at night in Hawaii. I always carried several primary and backup lights along with an underwater strobe as an emergency backup.

Finally, there is the issue of panic. The emergency is bad enough, but not being able to see what's around you so you can move to a safe location can cause people to do stupid things.

I like Susan's idea of a gallon of water and a rope, it's multi-purpose. If the emergency is dehydration, you can drink the water. If the emergency is needing to throw the rope you can use it as she described.

Dennis (the Menace)

I just thought of something more horrible: I wonder if any of the people whose cars went into the water had picked up their babies or toddlers from daycare on their way home, and had them strapped into the back seat?

Sue

Sue,
Yes, really sad for the husband & father.

Yes, it happened.

It's looking more and more like a Spare Air might be a good vehicle carry.

Pray that you are never in a situation that requires you to use everything in your emergency kit.

The idea of a kit, to me, is to have a range of assets which could apply to all of the situations I can imagine - with the flexibility to deal well with the situations I can't.

Car's in the water? You can get out but can't swim? Perhaps that emergency poncho could be tied to hold air and be a flotation device.

It would be a shame to see people scrap their preparedness kits just because the disasters that happened were different from the ones for which they prepared.