BY ALAN M. PETRILLO

Hydraulic rescue tool manufacturers have made dramatic changes to some of their units, including lighter weight tools, increased operational capabilities, and new tool designs. Fire and rescue departments are using this new and redesigned equipment on a number of fire apparatus and putting the tools through their paces at motor vehicle accidents and other rescue scenes.

HURST JAWS OF LIFE

Bruce R. Johnston, director of marketing and product management for HURST Jaws of Life Inc., says the fire and rescue market has been accepting battery-powered hydraulic tools at a rapid pace. “What is driving that acceptance is the high tensile strength of metals used in cars today,” Johnston points out. “Auto and truck manufacturers have increased the tensile strength exponentially, and the vehicles are better designed to cocoon the occupants. These extremely tough metals make it difficult for first responders, and it’s expected that by 2020, 20 percent of all cars will use high-strength or advanced high-strength steel.”

Johnston says that HURST takes a three-pronged approach to its hydraulic rescue tools: knowledge, training, and tool design. “In the past, a cutter could wrap around a B post and cut it,” he says, “but because of the use of high-strength steel, the cutter now must immediately begin cutting, so we made design changes to our tools.” Johnston says that HURST gave its eDRAULIC® cutters, spreaders, and combi tools longer reach, lighter weight, and wider openings.”

“With our cutters, we improved the blade designs and blade openings so they are wider to allow the blades to get around the larger B posts on these autos,” he says. “We did that with our S 377E2 cutter and S 312E2 models, increasing their cutter openings to 8.11 inches and 6.3 inches, respectively, adding more than ½ inch to their openings. We also designed smaller, sharper tips on the end of the blades to penetrate better and start cutting right away, which created more cutting force in the relevant work area at the tip of the blades.”

At FDIC International 2018, HURST launched its new S 799E2 cutter with a 9.5-inch blade opening, Johnston adds, “and our S 788E2 model’s blade depth and power were increased, letting it cut through steel 15 seconds faster than before,” he says. The 788’s blade depth is six inches. HURST also now has detachable tips on its spreaders and combi tools with four rows of shark teeth endings to improve the grip of