Jaws Of Life Training To Save Lives

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL -- No one heads out in the morning believing they'll be in a crash and be pinned inside their car, but in St. Johns County, it happens nearly once a week.

First Coast News caught up with the 'Heavy Rescue' team from Fire Rescue's Engine Company 17 as they practiced ripping and tearing cars apart Wednesday morning.
The goal is to be fully prepared to save lives.

Rescue teams routinely refer to the initial 60-minutes following a crash as the critical time, or "Golden Hour."

"In the golden hour we would like to have them out of the vehicle and into the OR (Operating Room)," said Fire Rescue Lieutenant John D'Amour.

"Not just to the ER but into the OR. And even more so now to the platinum 20. Twenty minutes out of the car... into the ambulance on the way or on the helicopter on the way to the hospital!"

So this fire rescue team trains every week with state of the art tools using up to 70,000 pounds of pressure to peel and cut away solid steel.

"The majority of people that are trapped in a vehicle in a head-on collision is from the dash being pushed down onto their legs," said Lt. D'Amour.

After removing the door, rescue crews cut away a section out of the main beam, or 'A' post. Then they insert pneumatic spreaders between the floorboard and the dashboard.

"Right there where the driver's legs are and we lift the dash straight up off of their legs. It's much faster to take them out that way," said Lt. D'Amour.

"We've got a foot of displacement there. That's more than we'd ever need to get someone out!"

They practice regularly, to be ready for the real thing.

"If you don't get this hands on type of training when you come across it on real calls then you fumble with it," said D'Amour.

And with lives on the line, their goal is to get it right the first time, every time.