Local rescue operations just received a big boost.
A $30,000 grant that provided the San Benito County Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection with a new set of Jaws of Life and
other rescue equipment is in the final stages of completion.
Capt. Vick Loftin applied for the grant, allocated by the
California Office of Traffic and Safety, more than a year ago, he
said. The funds for the grant came from available resources for
rescue equipment.
Local rescue operations just received a big boost.
A $30,000 grant that provided the San Benito County Department of Forestry and Fire Protection with a new set of Jaws of Life and other rescue equipment is in the final stages of completion.
Capt. Vick Loftin applied for the grant, allocated by the California Office of Traffic and Safety, more than a year ago, he said. The funds for the grant came from available resources for rescue equipment.
While the department already had one Jaws of Life, he used several relevant factors to legitimize the need for a second set, he said.
Calls stemming from incidents on Highways 25, 152 and 156, as well as the surrounding areas, were recorded and compiled into a list. He also used articles and pictures from local newspapers concerning accidents, and statistics from the California Highway Patrol when applying for the grant.
“The idea is to have a duplication of equipment,” said Capt. Rick Espino. “When one engine is out on a vehicle accident on Highway 25, if the volunteers get another call we have an extra set of jaws.”
The department received the new set of jaws last summer because the county picked up the tab in advance. The final paperwork has been submitted and the county should be reimbursed by the state very soon, Loftin said.
Along with the Jaws of Life, the department was able to secure other rescue equipment items with the grant money.
Equipment to supplement the jaws was a generator, the ram (which pushes apart sections of a car or other structure), the airbags, the airbag controller, hoses and chains that totaled approximately $24,000, Espino said.
All of the extra equipment complements the extrication equipment, but because every situation is unique, firefighters and rescue workers can’t always use the jaws on every car, he said.
“It all depends on how it’s sitting,” he said. “One year we had a guy that was down on the river and the car had flipped over on him. You can’t put the jaws in the river because there’s nothing to stabilize it. So we put the airbag down and it lifted the car right up.”
Another item the grant bought for the department was a battery-operated saw that can cut though anything that isn’t hardened steel, such as a door lock.
“It can cut the roof off a car no problem,” Espino said.
The reason for having an extra saw when there is a $20,000 Jaws of Life is portability, accessibility and efficiency issues, Espino said.
Because it takes two to four people to carry all the equipment associated with the jaws, a firefighter could take just the saw and first aid gear down to an accident site alone to assess the situation quicker, he said.
“It gives us an advantage,” Espino said. “Maybe all you need to do is cut one post until you get more people to bring the jaws down.”
Other smaller saws and miscellaneous equipment such as a chain saw, axes and other manual tools were also bought with the grant money.
“The jaws is just one tool in a huge tool kit,” Espino said. “We’ve been wanting an extra set of jaws for at least a couple of years. We needed a new one.”
The department’s other set of jaws is eight- to 10-years-old and is twice as heavy as the new one.
The department has already gotten use out of its new set of jaws, Loftin said.
“We buy it hoping we never have to use it,” he said. “We’re the only organization in the world that tries to put itself out of business.”
