At least three Butler County fire departments plan to invest in new “Jaws of Life”-type rescue tools because older models don’t cut through tough metals on newer cars. And some area departments have already made the switch.
Looking to purchase new extrication tools are Fairfield Twp., Liberty Twp. and the city of Oxford. The cities of Fairfield and Hamilton upgraded their tools in recent years, their chiefs said.
Fairfield Twp. has tried over the past two years to replace its tools via grant money but has never gotten it because the township doesn’t have the accident rate to merit the request, said Chief Timothy Thomas.
“The new vehicles out there are using different alloys and different steels, which our current set of equipment can no longer cut,” Thomas said. The township may be able to use grant funds to make its purchase, which would cost about $40,000.
Leading hydraulic-tool makers such as Hurst Jaws of Life — whose namesake George Hurst introduced the first hydraulic extrication tools for auto racing in the early 1970s — must keep putting more oomph into their equipment, making it heavier and more expensive. A Hurst cutter can cost upwards of $60,000. Add power units and other tools and the price rises quickly.
Liberty Twp.’s fire department also has a proposal pending to purchase new hydraulic extrication tools, which would cost approximately $61,000. According to fire chief Paul Stumpf, departments typically do not track how often extrication tools are used, but he estimated Liberty Twp. performs 25 to 30 vehicle extrications annually.
The city of Oxford is also looking to replace its units this year, said Fire Chief John Detherage.
“Our hydraulic rescue tools were purchased prior to 2002, some as early as 1978. We do have one combination cutter/spreader tool that one of our guys won at a trade show about five years ago that is supposed to work with these metals,” he said. “We have money in the 2015 budget for a new set of tools to address the issue of the newer car construction and the age of our current equipment. We plan to complete this project and have the equipment on the truck in 2015.”
Tougher cars, new tools
The stronger steel used to construct automobiles has been good news for automakers as they collect higher scores on car safety ratings. That stronger steel, however, make it more difficult for rescue personnel to remove victims who may be trapped inside damaged vehicles.
“Hydraulic rescue tool manufacturers advised emergency responders the older, less powerful, tools may stall while trying to cut through certain body components,” Bennett said. “Although not present in all automobiles, there is a significant risk of being faced with this problem. We replaced our rescue equipment in 2010, but did not discard our older units.”
The city of Hamilton also replaced its extrication equipment two years ago, said Steve Dawson, Hamilton’s fire chief.
“With our older unit, we were running into maintenance and repair issues. At that time, our older cutting blade was having trouble with some of the newer metals on some of the newer cars. Our new blade, which is a different kind of metal, was designed to accommodate some of the newer metals,” he said.
Middletown’s interim fire chief, Paul Lolli, said his department has not encountered problems with rescue operations but would consider an upgrade if necessary.
Some newer cars have tough safety beams built into the doors to blunt the impact of collisions. But at the same time, those beams are harder for older extrication tools to cut, Stumpf said.
“Some of the components, the side impact bars are made out of some of the newer steels … behind the skin of the door, they’ve got these guardrail-type side impact provisions in the car to make them safer,” said Stumpf.
Fire departments track how long it takes to perform an extrication, and those vary widely.
“The person may be trapped for two or three minutes after we get on scene. The more complicated ones may take a half-hour, 45 minutes or even an hour. That’s rare, but there are ones where you have to completely dismantle the car to remove the body,” Stumpf said.
Some of Liberty’s equipment dates back to the mid-1980s, said the chief, and cars “cut” differently now than they did then.
“We spread metal. You stick these jaws in to pry open a door or lift a dash. Instead of it forcing the door open, the metal just tears like a pop can … the old ’70s, ’80s cars were just heavy metal, and you could pry the parts apart because they were a thicker-gauge metal,” Stumpf said.
This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.
About the Author