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.

The Jaws of Life

The Jaws of Life is the third studio album by Australian rock band, Hunters & Collectors, which was released on 6 August 1984. It was co-produced by Konrad Plank and the band in Weilerswist, Germany. The album peaked at No. 89 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart and No. 37 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. The only Australian single from the album, "The Slab" ("Betty's Worry")/"Carry Me", was released as a Double A sided single, in August but failed to chart on the Australian or New Zealand singles charts.

Background

Late in 1983, Hunters & Collectors had briefly disbanded, but soon reformed without Martin Lubran and Greg Perano.Mark Seymour (guitar and lead vocals) explained to The Canberra Times' Neil Lade why the group had reconvened "[we] have something valuable to offer the Australian music scene". According to Doug Falconer, the group's drummer, the album "was written in about a month and a half after the band returned to Australia" in the previous December. He recalled that they had wanted "to have a bit of a change of style, a change of atmosphere, it (the writing) was getting too heavy handed". He felt the band were "a much happier unit".