Hydraulic rescue tools

Hydraulic rescue tools are used by emergency rescue personnel to assist vehicle extrication of crash victims, as well as other rescues from small spaces. These tools include cutters, spreaders, and rams. They are popularly referred to in the English-speaking Commonwealth nations and the US as the Jaws of Life, a trademark of Hurst Performance Inc. The Jaws of Life were first used in 1963 as a tool to free race car drivers from their vehicles after crashes.

Hydraulic rescue tools are powered by a hydraulic pump, which can be hand-, foot-, or engine-powered, or even built into the tool. These tools may be either single-acting, where hydraulic pressure will only move the cylinder in one direction, and the return to starting position is accomplished using a pressure-relief valve and spring setup, or dual-acting, in which hydraulic pressure is used to both open and close the hydraulic cylinder.

History

The Hurst Rescue Tool was invented by that company's founder, George Hurst, after he viewed a stock car race accident in which it took workers over an hour to remove an injured driver from his car. That was about 1961 and the tool reached the prototype stage of development in 1971. Previously rescuers often used circular saws for vehicle extrication, but these suffered from several drawbacks. Saws can conduct sparks, which could start a fire, create loud sounds, stress the victim(s), and often cut slowly. Alternatively, rescuers could try to pry open the vehicle doors with a crowbar or Halligan bar, but this could compromise the stability of the vehicle, injure the victims further, or inadvertently trigger the airbags of the vehicle.