On Sunday, April 24, the OBFD held a training session so your volunteer Firemen could practice and enhance their skills at extricating a victim involved in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Depending on the severity of the involvement, the Firemen have to have a working knowledge of several different types of tools and what techniques can be best employed to get the patient out of the vehicle quickly and safely. These tools include the Holmatro tools, commonly called, The Jaws of Life. There are several different types. The one the public is most used to seeing is called a spreader (these are Jaws!). This tool is used to open the doors of a vehicle that are so damaged they cannot be opened by any other means. Using hydraulic pressure, a spreader can generate up to 58,000 pounds of pressure. This insures when properly used, the door WILL open. Another tool is called cutters. This tool is used to cut through door hinges, roof pillars, and any other part of a vehicle that needs cutting! Cutters can generate up to 208,000 pounds of pressure so we always keep an eye on our fingers. The last type of Holmatro tool is the ram. This tool can be used to raise a dashboard off a patient, compress a door so it bulges a vehicle door from the inside out. This gives more inside to work on a patient and allows other tools in to open the door. Rams can generate up to 36,460 pounds of pressure. Other tools included a window punch. When properly placed and pushed into the window, the window will shatter. Of course, proper care is taken to protect anyone in the vehicle. The last tool practiced with is called a Sawzall. With different blades you can remove an entire windshield, or cut through different areas of a vehicle to make the extrication easier. As you can see by the finished product of our training session these tools do a great job when used properly. That’s what training is all about. Training is always on going. Our Company has also begun going to the Fire Academy for the training necessary to be the best Firemen we can possibly be. More training columns will follow so you can follow what we do to be as good as we can be. Look for dates of more training sessions, so you can come down to our Fire House and observe your Department getting better.
The Blue Light Brigade can be found in the Local Oyster Bay newspapers. The articles will also be published here on the site as they come out. The articles are written by Oyster Bay Fire Department Secretary Michael R. Scheck. Please Check Back Often to see whats new with us.
