AVRO comes of age
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The Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators met last week for its annual conference and exhibition. Debate was lively — the AA took some flak — and members learnt how their jump leads could save a life. Hydraulic equipment dominated the show. Tim Blakemore was there
HE TREND towards fully hyiraulic recovery equipment will )ecome overwhelming, and hyiraulic wheel-lift towing will be urther developed and )erfected, predicted Gerry iolmes of the Century Wrecker .:orporation of Ooltewah, Tenlessee.
One of the best known figures n the industry — his grandfather vas the famous Ernest Holmes vho founded the Holmes Cor)oration in 1916 — Gerry was a juest lunch speaker at last week uld's Association of Vehicle Reevery Operators conference ind exhibition, and delegates )aid close attention to his cornnents.
If anyone doubted the likelimod of his prediction being ac :urate, they needed only step iutside the Metropole Hotel and ook at the exhibits to find evi lence of the trend he described.
lydraulically operated equipnent, large and small, was, iverywhere to be seen, with iardly a mechanical crane in ,ight.
For most visitors to the Metro)ole, the exhibits were attraction inough. The new products (see echnical news pages) and the ixotic machinery on display irompted the operation of many I pocket calculator to try to deide how they could be afforded.
photographs a-plenty were aken of other operators' novel leas.
There were also those visitors, uch as the Army's two young lEME vehicle recovery nechanics on weekend leave rom Osnabruck in West Gernany, who gallantly tried to di ide their time between the exhi?Won and the conference peakers inside the Metropole's inema.
Those who decided to make he most of the exceptionally ine weather and not attend the onference missed some ineresting and often lively and hought-provoking sessions.
The first guest speaker was /like Guy of the Emergency Mo llie Medical Unit (EMMU) and at irst his audience was disappoiningly small. But this was due lore to the Metropole's remark bly inefficient checking-in ystem (it has the only computer have come across whose funcIon seems to be to slow things down) than to any lack of interest in the subject matter from AVRO members.
EMMU came into existence only two years ago when hospital staff at the Royal Lancaster infirmary decided that an organisation was needed to fill what they saw as a vacuum in the emergency services provided at events in the Lancaster and Lake District area. The only support they had was from their own.
After little initial support, Boardman Garages of Forton agreed to sponsor the unit, and a short while later, to Mike Guy's surprise and delight, Angus, the maker of fire fighting equipment, also lent its support. Now Angus has trained most of the EMMU's personnel in basic firefighting techniques.
Further extremely welcome sponsorship came from various medical companies and now EM MU has about £15,500 worth of medical equipment.
But Mike Guy was quick to emphasise that sophisticated medical equipment is certainly not always essential at the scene of an accident in order for lives to be saved. His own personal firstaid kit, carried in a small pouch attached to his belt, could hardly have been more simple. It comprised a short length of plastic tubing, a pair of scissors, a triangular bandage and a pair of tongue forceps. He strongly recommended that all recovery operators should carry a similar kit, though he made it clear that a safety pin could be used to perform the same function as the tongue forceps, namely to prevent an accident victim's tongue from slipping back into his windpipe.
By this stage the speaker had clearly captured his audience's attention and proceeded to give them some rules to remember for life saving at the scene of an accident.
In view of the deaths recently of two AVRO members at motorway accidents, the first rule was particularly pertinent.
1, Keep yourself out of danger.
2, Take a little time to assess the situation. In a workshop that is easy, on the road it is not so easy.
3, Summon help — many firstaid techniques require assistance.
4, Maintain the victim's heart action.
5, Ensure his airway is clear.
6, Arrest bleeding.
7, Use common sense.
8, Do not make matters worse. "The most common cause of death in victims of road traffic accidents is heart failure", said Mike Guy. Plainly then, it is vitally important that the first person on the scene, who is likely to be a recovery operator, should be capable of administering resuscitation.
"If the victim has stopped breathing, you have four minutes to act positively before irreversible brain damage occurs," warned Mike. He then described the correct procedures for mouth to mouth resuscitation and external massage.
In the question session that followed, Frank Carter asked: "Can you give heart massage to a patient who has a pacemaker fitted?"
The answer was no, but Mike Guy did have some advice for any AVRO member who finds a victim whose heart has stopped and who has a tell-tale scar across his chest, suggesting that he had a battery operated pacemaker: "Spit on the chest and put 12 volts across it with your battery jump leads", said Mike. "You might think that drastic, and certainly it will result in some burns but it also might save a life."
A number of AVRO members were concerned that they might be held responsible in law if after giving such treatment to a victim he died anyway. Mike Guy was able to reassure them by quoting the British Good Samaritan law which allows for reasonable attempts at resuscitation by a reasonable person. The American equivalent of this law has been repealed and this has led to doctors "driving by on the other side" for fear of subsequent legal action if their resuscitation attempts failed.
John Wells, AVRO's directorgeneral and the conference chairman, questioned the amount of first-aid training demanded by the Health and Safety at Work Act for recovery personnel.
Mike Guy replied that regardless of the regulations, he considered it to be "of paramount importance that regular road users such as AVRO members should be trained in first aid. Indeed, I believe it should be included in all hgv driver training." After listening to his stimulating presentation, none of the audience would disagree with him.
Station officer Malcolm Dunn, assisted by sub officer Paul Guyver, both from the West Midlands Fire Service, made the next presentation which was entitled, "The fire service's role at road traffic accidents". Many AVRO members may have been surprised to learn that nothing in law places an obligation on the fire service to attend road traffic accidents.
The legislation governing the operation of the fire service is the 1947 Fire Services Act which places a duty on local authorities to provide a means of fighting fires, but which also is phrased in such a vague way that it allows the fire services to maintain equipment for uses other than fire fighting, for example, assisting at road accidents.
Malcolm Dunn explained why it is important that the equipment used by all fire services should be standardised, and described what is carried on a pump ladder, which is a normal fire appliance: a basic tool kit, a crowbar, bolt croppers, an Epeco hydraulic rescue kit with six and eight-ton rams, pneumatic cutting equipment, a twoton jack and blocks of wood, fluorescent jerkins, cones, lamps and accident signs.
Referring again to the two recent recovery fatalities on motorways, Malcolm described how fire applicances were parked in the "fend off" position at the scene of an accident and cones set back at 10m (32.8ft) intervals with the warning lamps placed 365m (400yds to the rear). So the first few minutes of any fire service attendance at the scene of a motorway accident are spent in "setting up safety" and a safety officer is then appointed whose sole function at the incident is to watch the other crew members working and warn them if they step out of the safe area.
The pump ladder has a crew of five. The emergency tender, which may also attend a road traffic accident, is usually manned by two. It carried breathing apparatus plus this additional equipment: another Epeco kit with a 20-ton ram, large crowbars, comprehensive tool kits, winches and shackles, 20 and 40-ton capacity air bags, emergency lighting powered by its own generator, protective clothing (gas tight suits), and a compressor to power air tools.
One AVRO member, Tony Booth, commented that much of the equipment shown on the slide looked old fashioned. "There is plenty of better equipment on the market today," he said. Malcolm Dunn conceded that he was probably right but explained that all the equipment used by the fire service had been tried, tested and proven over a long time. It would cost a fortune to replace it all.
Both Malcolm Dunn and Paul Guyver are based at the West Midlands Fire Service's advanced training department. It was no surprise, therefore, to hear them talk with authority on the subject of training. This is taken very seriously by the fire service, with emphasis being placed on casualty handling. When a fireman is on day duty, he must receive at least three hours' training each day and on night duty the minimum requirement is two hours.
"Probably 90 per cent of fire stations these days have scrap cars which are used for road traffic accident training," said Malcolm. Exactly how they are used was demonstrated later in the day when a scrap Viva in the exhibition area was taken apart by a team of West Midlands firemen at a simulated accident scene.
Concern about the lack of cooperation between the police, fire service and vehicle recovery operator was expressed by a number of AVRO members. In Leicestershire, John Rogers, AVRO's national chairman, has offered the service of AVRO members free of charge to the fire service when emergency lifts are required.
"I would like to think we could have a similar relationship with AVRO members here in the West Midlands," was Malcolm Dunn's response. But he went on to warn that the whole subject was a controversial one. Many senior officers were worried about making any long-term arrangement with recovery operators because they might be accused of favouritism.
The next two speakers were well known to all those AVRO members who had attended the 1978 conference at Bordon. They were Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Moore and Major Glen Caddye. "Recovery in the Army" was the title of the presentation and Jim Moore set the scene by describing how the Army was divided into the "teeth and tail arms", that is, the fighting and supporting services, and how vehicle recovery fitted into this structure.
In describing how the Army selected its recovery vehicles, Jim Moore explained that the Ministry of Defence does look to the commercial scene for reasons of economy, but invariably specification changes have to be made. "There is a fundamental difference in military and civilian evaluation," he went on. "The military user's prime concern is not economy."
For a more detailed description of the "militarised equipment" used by the Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Moore handed over to Major Glen Caddye.
With the aid of slides he gave a necessarily brief description of the recovery vehicles currently in use with the services, mainly with the Army.
The first vehicle shown was the Bedford light recovery vehicle. This was one of the first recovery vehicles designed for the Army. Major Caddye was quite prepared to admit that this vehicle did not compare favourably with modern units. "But", he said, "it has the advantages of good road speed and 'airportability'. I would not be surprised if there were some of these on their way south at the present time."
The next vehicle on the screen was the Army's Leyland heavy recovery vehicle. This was designed and brought into service some years ago to support those vehicles on which it is based, that is the artillery gun tractor and the six-ton heavy cargo vehicle. The top hamper on this vehicle is not commercially available but was designed by the then Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment since renamed the Military Vehicles Experimental Establishment at Chobham.
One of the Army's latest high mobility recovery vehicles is the AEC Medium Recovery, which has been in service for 10-1'4 years. This vehicle is based or the AEC Militant chassis anc Glen Caddye was full of praisE for its "excellent cross-country capability."
The Eka-equipped Scammel 6x4 chassis has been in servicE with the Army for only the las three to four years, and is alsc used by the Navy and Air Force "This vehicle was choser specifically for on-road recovery jobs, which are in the majority now," said Major Caddye.
In the Army's terms, the 6x configuration gives it only E limited off-road capability.
The top hamper is a commer cially available fully hydraulic package made by Eka of Swe den. Its folding boom at the real has a miximum load rating of 7.f. tonnes (7.38 tons) when fully re tracted and 4 tonnes (3.9 tons when fully extended.
Major Caddye concluded hi: presentation by describing thE Army's trucked recovery vehicles and to prove that thE story he told about a recent re covery of a Centurion tank frorr two-and-a-half miles out on thi Maplin Sands in Essex was nc fisherman's tale, he showec slides of the operation.
Saturday morning's confer ence began with the Recovery Club Panel, and after the recen liquidation of one of the clubs Eagle Car Recovery Club promised to be a lively session It was.
The seven representatives or the platform, ably directed by John Wells, the conferencE chairman, were Colin Pegler the Automobile Association Dennis Barrett of Autohome Mark Bedeman of BRS Rescue Terry Kellard of the Moto' Agents Association's Goldstar :rnie Smith of National lreakdown, Bob Clarke of OctaIon, and Dick Wilkinson of the loyal Automobile Club.
Each of these was given two iinutes to describe his cornany's position . . . and sparks egan to fly.
At one stage, John Wells said e hoped it was not going to J rn into a witch hunt against the but at times I would not ave been surprised to see an mber broomstick fleeing from ie Metropole.
Frank Smith from Leeds began le attack with the question to olin Pegler. "Does the AA exect AVRO members to turn out ) AA members at their homes ) rectify problems caused by le AA member's tinkering with is vehicle?" He was referring to le AA's recently introduced om este rt service.
Colin Pegler's answer was that le new service was intended nly to help AA members whose irs had been left out overnight id would not start in the aorning, but Frank Smith aemed unconvinced and reuested some kind of assurance a be printed in the AA's Drive iagazine.
Then came an attack from a .fferent direction. Ron Graham F Lancaster wqnted to know if it as the AA's intention to move to commercial vehicle recovy. On the way to Birmingham 3 had seen an AA patrolman tending a broken down 7-ton )rd.
Perhaps significantly, Colin agler's reply was carefully orded, "At this moment in -ne, no, we do not intend to
move into the commercial vehicle field."
I detected a look of relief on Colin Pegler's face when the discussion moved to a different topic: But it was one that is equally controversial. The carrying of passengers on trade plates.
The general feeling was that AVRO needed more support from the organisations represented on the panel in trying to change the legislation which everyone agreed was confused and outdated.
John Wells made the legal position quite clear: "It is illegal to carry passengers in a vehicle which has a trade licence but in reality it is often unsafe to do otherwise. The Department of Transport has got as near as 'damn it' to saying the law is going to be changed but that might take as long as seven years. There is also the problem of insurance being void on a vehicle which, strictly speaking, is being operated illegally."
As a responsible organisation, AVRO's official stance had to be that its members should not do anything illegal, but if the operators stopped carrying passengers in crew cabs that would soon put the recovery clubs out of business, he said.
National Breakdown's Ernie Smith told the conference that he had an assurance (no pun intended) from General Accident that its insurance policy remains valid in these circumstances, and John Softley of Surrey Breakdown said that he had a piece of paper from the DTp at Swansea saying that the practice is "illegal but sensible".
He said that he interpreted the trade plate regulations differently, as did some county councils who stated categorically that the recovery vehicles with crew cabs could carry passengers legally.
If anything is clear in this murky area of legislation, it is that a court case is needed to create a precedent. And John Wells told the conference that just such a case involving an AVRO member is pending.
Then it was the turn of Mark Bedeman from BPS Rescue to take some of the flak when the subject of late payment of invoices was raised.
Tom Carruthers from Scotland revealed that he had received a cheque from BPS last week for a job he had done last December.
"What had happened to the payment guaranteed within 59 days?" he wanted to know. Mark Bedeman accepted that there had been a delay in payment recently but promised that the situation should soon improve. Indeed, he talked of a payment within 14 days with a soon to-beintroduced new Transcard scheme.
Dennis Barrett of Autohome thought for a while that he was going to be allowed to leave unscathed; but he was wrong.
Inevitably there were a number of questions from worried recovery operators about the collapsed Eagle Car Recovery Club. It was Dennis Barrett's responsibility to answer these questions because his company is now servicing Eagle's old private members, and the Red Rovers club which actually owns what was Eagle, was notably absent from the AVRO conference.
The last session of this year's AVRO conference, but by no means the least interesting, was the traditional open forum. Here, all and sundry were invited to question AVRO's national council. The question "What has AVRO done in the past four years?" was posed by the council itself, and answered in detail in a leaflet handed to the delegates.
Geoff Gatward from Maidstone started the ball rolling on the subject of quality and quantity of membership by asking if it would be possible to introduce a probationary period for members. He also wanted to know how AVRO could get rid of unsatisfactory members.
National Council member Brian Drury agreed with the idea of the probationary period and John Softley who impressed everyone with his ability to translate legalese into plain English, said that the means already exist for AVRO to expel members. The discussion then widened into the practicalities of a probationary period, categorisation and inspection and John Wells warned that it is already proving difficult to get the categorisation done on time.
The pros and cons of AVRO establishing an Association of British Travel Agents-like "disastger fund" to cater for any possible recovery club collapses in the future were discussed at length, but it was generally agreed that the cons far outweighed the pros.
Metropole's cinema was raised several degrees when Chris Tar ran from Yorkshire asked what the council thought of a recent feature in a trade journal (not Commercial Motor) which suggested that there were "cowboy operators" in AVRO. This was thought to allude to a well known national council member.
The member, who was present, was not greatly moved, dismissing it as nonsense, but many other AVRO members.felt more strongly about it, describ
ing the journal concerned as a "comic cuts paper" and demanding an apology and suggesting that legal action should betaken.
Bravely, John Wooldridge, the national council member for the West Midlands, said that he feared there might be an element of truth in it. The official national council response to the feature was to be decided the following day. One obvious effect of the discussion about this criticism was that it initiated some serious self analysis from the AVRO conference.
Doug Twyford from Twyfords of London was seriously worried about AVRO's future. "I believe passionately in AVRO" he affirmed. "But I believe it is in danger of going under. My com pany, like many others, is finding it very quiet and we are fighting for survival. I have heard the question asked 'What are AVRO members getting for their £70?' Any additional cost, such as that suggested for testing, would be unacceptable, though I am quite happy about any of my vehicles going through the present DTp plating and testing scheme. Unless AVRO does something very quickly there will be a mass exo dus of members. The objective should be to increase AVRO's membership."
At last year's conference it was clear that AVRO was growing up. Now it is equally clear that it has matured.