Anybody who knows me knows that I am not the kind of rescuer/rescue instructor that immediately jumps on the band wagon when it comes to any of the myriad of new tools for the vehicle rescue business. I will sit back and take my time to carefully look at these new tools and analyze their value for today’s street rescuer.
I will be the first one to tell you that rescue is not about the toys… errr.. tools. Rescue is a philosophy… …a state of mind. Sometimes rescuers are given tools that really don’t help their cause, but then there ARE those tools that can make a difference in the job they do.
Unbeknownst to some rescuers and salesmen, the harsh reality is that not every new vehicle rescue tool that comes to the market is needed or of any real use. (Does anybody remember the “hybrid vehicle emergency kit”? Thankfully that one disappeared from the market rather quickly.) But let’s face it, there are some – probably too many – rescue companies out there that “if you build it, they will come”.
I have had everything from lighthearted discussions to full blown arguments with various rescue tool sales people over the years about some of the tools that are out there. If they don’t know me they learn very quickly that being from Berks County, I may be a stubborn Pennsylvania Dutchman, but I am not a dumb one. Sometimes, if nothing else, we find neutral ground by agreeing to disagree, and in some cases their explanations and allowing me to work with a tool for awhile was enough to sway me.
That is what happened when I was first introduced to Moditech’s “Crash Recovery System” (“CRS”) several years ago. I first found it on a website and then wanting to learn more about the program, I reached out to Moditech and began a dialogue with one of their staff, Jörg Heck. He explained the thoughts behind the development, and use of the program, and shared with me tips/tricks to make it easy to use. He gradually made me a believer of its value and the need for such information when dealing with the modern vehicle.
Today, Jörg and I are good friends and talk on sometimes a daily basis, not only sharing our mutual interests in vehicle rescue and specifically new vehicle anatomy, but also talking about life in general. And in the intervening years, I have gotten to talk to many others of the Moditech staff as well.
It is kind of hard to realize that the CRS has been around for 10 years. From my perspective, this is one of those tools that after working with it awhile, you learn the value of it for vehicle extrication in the modern automobile. I encourage all rescuers to check it out and see for yourself – and like everything else in rescue, you may agree or you may disagree – but you won’t know until you try.
To show the development of the CRS over these years, Moditech Rescue Solutions BV has produced a very detailed and informative interactive graphical timeline of the CRS history. It’s worth checking out – you can click on the image to go to the interactive timeline.
And remember rescuers, with the technology in today’s vehicles it is very important to know what’s inside…
You can find additional information about the Crash Recovery System here and here.)
And, that’s my take on rescue tools for today…