The Chicago (IL) Fire Department (CFD) Bureau of Logistics has outfitted the department’s truck companies and heavy rescue squad companies with $2 million worth of Hurst Jaws of Life eDRAULIC battery-operated rescue tools, thanks to the timely receipt of a federal grant.
“This was the largest rescue tool acquisition that we had made in a long time,” says Paul Foertsch, district chief in the CFD Bureau of Logistics. “It was important that we do it all at once and get the new tools to every truck and rescue company instead of buying rescue tools piecemeal over different time periods.” Foertsch points out that it took a couple of years for the CFD to get the federal grant that paid for the equipment, but once the finance division secured the $2 million in funding, he made the request for Hurst’s eDRAULIC rescue tools.
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| 1 The Chicago (IL) Fire Department chose Hurst Jaws of Life Generation 2 eDRAULIC rescue tools to deploy on its truck companies and heavy rescue companies. Chicago firefighters are shown laying out eDRAULIC tools prior to a demonstration earlier this year on its 2016 EMS Day. |
The Purchase
Larry Anderson, regional sales manager for Hurst Jaws of Life, says that the CFD purchased 70 sets of Generation 2 eDRAULIC rescue tools, with each set comprising a SP310E2 spreader, S700E2 cutter, and R421E2 ram. The CFD also purchased four SC357E2 combi tools, along with extra batteries, four generators, electric cords, and reels.
Foertsch says that the CFD replaced hosed hydraulic Hurst rescue tools with the eDRAULIC sets on each of the department’s 61 truck companies, its four heavy rescue companies, and in special operations pod containers. The heavy rescue squads also received the combi tools, generators, and electrical reels. He notes, “The generators and long electrical cords for each squad are there to be used in case of long extrications where the eDRAULIC batteries might get depleted.”
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| 2 Chicago firefighters prepare to tear into a car with Hurst Generation 2 eDRAULIC spreaders and cutters as part of the department’s 2016 EMS Day demonstration. |
The CFD’s four heavy rescue squads had been outfitted with an earlier version of the Hurst eDRAULIC tools, Foertsch notes. “The ability to put three tools to work on an extrication at the same time is a big advantage,” he says. “Everyone can be working simultaneously with the eDRAULICs, which we couldn’t do with hosed hydraulic rescue tools.”
The Tools
Michael Canon, Hurst’s director of sales, says the Generation 2 eDRAULIC tools are powered through a hydraulic pump with a reservoir and hydraulic piston that’s connected to a small motor, but the battery has been changed to a lithium ion model. “Prior versions were powered by nickel metal hydride batteries,” Canon says. “Generation 2’s five-a