Whenever there's a car accident and people are trapped inside crushed vehicles, you invariably hear that rescue workers employed the Jaws of Life to extradite them. The Jaws of Life is a set of tools including spreaders, rams and cutters. Every firefighter and rescue worker knows how and when to use the Jaws of Life. When seconds count between life and death, using the Jaws of Life makes the difference.
Place the cutter, like a giant scissors operated by hydraulics, against a roof or door of the vehicle. When cutting a roof, remove the windshield if still intact and cut through the front or rear posts. Peel back roof. Cover victim prior to cutting, if possible.
Slide the closed arms of the spreader into an opening in the vehicle and expand by opening the valve switch to pump oil from a portable engine into the hoses to the body of the spreader. This allows the pincer-like arms to open. Depending on the model used, you can achieve openings of up to 30 inches.
Use the ram, if you need to push apart parts of the crushed vehicle. Place the head against the car part that you need to push, for instance a dashboard, and let oil flow into one side of the cylinder to push the piston forward. To reverse, simply switch oil flow to the other hose to allow oil to push piston in the opposite direction.
Lift the dashboard, roof or any other part of the vehicle off the victim by placing the ram vertically under the part. In the case of a dashboard, this is called a "dash lift."
Reverse the use of the spreader to crush between the arms rather than push apart, if necessary. Clamp a piece of the vehicle between the pincer arms, and turn the valve switch in the opposite direction it is turned to open the arms.
