Portable Jaws of Life

[John Cassidy]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=Page%3A%2FDefault.asp+KW+Box&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=jaws+of+life

For anyone that needs/wants a portable jaws of life.

Catalog sometimes has some cool safety gear.

John

[HiTempguy]

Interesting... this was talked about quite extensively as equipment for sweep trucks (at least one) after Kananaskis.

[Safe Drives]

The Oregon Rally Group has been talking about getting one as well.

[Bruce]

There are several events that have Jaws available...I know they're a budget item every year at Ojibwe.

OTOH, an EMS guy I talked to in Maine (IIRC) said that they're now using battery powered circular saws to cut cars apart, and they work very well...in addition to being cheaper.

Bruce

[John Cassidy]

I just threw this out as I had never seen a self contained(non-motorized) version of the jaws out there. interesting to basically see basically a porta-power(ed) jaws device.

Glad to hear events/organizers are thinking about whether they have access to them or not.

I know that there are fire/EMS sawzall blades out there meant to cut metal quickly.

This may morph into an extrication discussion. :-)

Some examples of larger units: http://eeresq.com/_wsn/page3.html

Cheers! John

[Bruce]

I know that there are fire/EMS sawzall blades out there meant to cut metal quickly.



The one I saw was a small circular saw (4-5" blade maybe?). The guy who had it carries a half dozen metal-cutting blades (nothing special) and five batteries in a case that fit easily in his trunk. He says he can get all four pillars of a car cut with two batteries...in less time than Jaws.

Circular saw would kick back less than a Sawzall.

Bruce

[colinminicooper]

Circular saws are faster but if there is a fuel leak they are a no no. Too great chance of a fire. I think a portable jaws of life unit in sweep would make me feel better. They work great and are fast enough.

Something like this...this isnt the pone I have seen before but after a quick search i found a few this one has specs on cutting and spreading force.

http://www.jawsoflife.com/_Downloads/hurst/hurst_high_pressure_operation_manuals/LKE-55en%20Operation%20Manual.pdf

Colin

[John Cassidy]

Bruce, makes sense. I think that the WRC has started to do some work with simply cutting the car away from the occupants now, rather than trying to salvage it. A long sawzall blade extends quite a ways out the other side, and who knows what's under there/in there.

I too like the portable jaws and assume that folks on a rally would need both a cutting head and a prying head?

We must have some fire fighters on here. Where's Bill Bacon!? :-)

John

[Bruce]

Circular saws are faster but if there is a fuel leak they are a no no. Too great chance of a fire. I think a portable jaws of life unit in sweep would make me feel better. They work great and are fast enough.



The point about fire is well taken. Part of the gear is tarps to contain sparks, and they would normally be wetting down gas spills.

The big advantage is cost. For the price of a Jaws you can buy several of these saws...making it more likely one will be where it's needed. I'm always afraid that the one Jaws you have will be a whole stage behind where it's needed...you crash on stage 6 while sweep is still starting stage 5. And just about any dummy can use a saw...although the fire danger argues against REAL dummies. :)

The other thing I've noticed is that Jaws seem to need a lot of maintenance (read $$$). Dunno if that's really true.

Bruce

[Morison]

I have a couple of thoughts on this.

- Jaws are a prety specialised tool, and the people using them have pretty specific training. I am not convinced that bringing in an amateur with the jaws will actually help most situations.

- That said, Jaws anywhere at an event will probably be closer than Jaws at the local firehall.

- we recently used a sawsall to remove door bars on a cage. it was quick and efficient. (quicker than I thought it would be)

- in the seven years that I have been rallying we've only needed to remove car parts to get people out ONCE in Western Canada.

- for years we hired a local oilfield safety company to attend the event with the Jaws of Life. Their business got too busy and they couldn't accommodate us anymore.

[Bruce Beauvais]

There are several events that have Jaws available...I know they're a budget item every year at Ojibwe.

OTOH, an EMS guy I talked to in Maine (IIRC) said that they're now using battery powered circular saws to cut cars apart, and they work very well...in addition to being cheaper.

Bruce

One thing the tool shown is missing is the shear set. It does have the spreader but can't cut. Typically one cuts and then spreads to create room to extricate.
Our SCCA region purchased a used tool ($10k in 1998) and donated it to the FD closest to our most used race track. The kit contained a 5hp Honda powered pump, hoses, spreader and shears. Maintenance was mostly making sure the engine was tuned up and exercised.
As the RE at the time, I did attend a couple of training sessions.
The esteemed gentleman from Minnesota pointed out that most rescue teams now carry a cordless saw of some kind. Race rescue people use them as the shears can't cut carbon fiber. The jaws kind of slide over it, much as if one tries to use right-handed scissors with the left hand. The cordless saw can cut the material. Some older shears can't cut the most modern steels used in car construction so there is a new generation of tools being created that have more force.

[starion887]

- Jaws are a prety specialised tool, and the people using them have pretty specific training. I am not convinced that bringing in an amateur with the jaws will actually help most situations.


That was my first thought when reading the idea of having extraction equipment in sweep. If we ever can afford any safety extraction equipment (which were did some planning for and researched this year), we'll likely just give the money to the county VFD organization and ask them to use it for equipment needed in the area, with probably a request for jaws. They know what works much better than us, I bet. The VFD's that support RWV actually have an arrangement for the county VFD's to back each other up with extra equipment sets (the largest one has the most), so we would encourage them to put it there, so it could be ready to use for our event, and then be supporting the community the rest of the year.

You will buy a LOT of VFD/EMS and community goodwill this way, rather than having equipment set idle most of the year.

Regards,
Mark B.

[rally99]

Just to add in my thoughts as one who was at the one event,

-The cordless Recip. saw cut the co-driver door bars WAY faster than the JAWS on the other side, as well the fire crew had to use a recip. saw anyway in a spot the nose of the tool wouldn't reach anyway - they carry both for this reason.
- As someone who has and uses both a battery powered circular saw and sawzall for work, there is no comparison in cutting tubing or other metal (except maybe a long straight cut in sheet metal ) the Recip. saw is faster, cleaner, no sparks and no exploding blades and would cut WAY more on one battery

My opinion a good recip. saw is the best all-round way to go

I should also add the cutting of the car in this case was removing door bars to aid in getting the crew out on a precuationary back board NOT because of deformation of the car - it was as easy to get in and out of as the day it was built