VIDEO: Putnam Firefighters Simulate Rescue

Members of the Putnam Valley Volunteer Fire Department demonstrate an extrication at the annual Children's Expo and Public Safety Day this weekend.

Chief Shawn Keeler said extrication can mean a variety of things—removing the roof of a vehicle, popping off the doors, lifting the dashboard—depending on how the patient is trapped. In each scenario, tons of safety precautions are taking to make sure the car is stabilized and won't roll, and to ensure the person doesn't sustain additional injuries.

One emergency call, about three months ago, took first-responders about an hour to remove the patient. She was not severly injured, but the car was "crushed" around her.

"So as a chief, when something takes that long, it starts getting nerve-racking," Keeler said, "but you've got to have it in the back of your mind, they'redoing the best they can to get the patient out safe and not injure them more."