"Jaws of Life" Demonstration at Molesworth Highlights JAC Safety Program

  • Published
  • By Staff Sergeant Trisha S. Edgar, U. S. Air Force
  • JIOCEUR Analytic Center
ROYAL AIR FORCE MOLESWORTH, England --  Safety is serious business at the JIOCEUR Analytic Center at RAF Molesworth, England. 

Safety in the home; what to do in the event of a fire; safety on the dangerous back roads we travel (made even worse by black ice and darkness in the coming winter months), and safety in the JAC workplace are all concerns of the JAC Safety Officer, Air Force Staff Sergeant Trisha S. Edgar.

Road safety was graphically highlighted on August 7th by a demonstration at RAF Molesworth of the "Jaws of Life" device used to extricate trapped motorists. The device is used by our own U. S. Air Force Fire Departments at RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth, and by local British fire departments and is credited with saving lives of people otherwise trapped in an accident vehicle.

Chief Kimo Kuheana and members of the RAF Molesworth fire station demonstrated what would actually occur if a person was stuck in a vehicle and could not escape. The Fire Chief used an actual wrecked vehicle and ran the scenario as if a real accident had occurred.  He walked the crowd of JAC members through exactly what would occur during the extraction which took 25 minutes to cut the "victim" free.  

The same technique was used just this past week to free Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman from a car crash into a ditch in Mississippi.  Freeman who was discharged from the hospital on August 8th,  can thank the "Jaws of Life" for getting him quickly to medical care.  

The JAC Senior Enlisted Leader, Master Chief Shelly A. Wall is here today because she was cut from her wrecked car by the 'Jaws of Life" in 1987 after she was hit by a drunk driver.  After recovering from the crash in Virginia, the then second class petty officer, who was thinking about leaving the service, decided to stay in the Navy to pay for the car.  "After I finished paying for the car the Navy offered me London, so I made it a career!" said the Master Chief.

Fire Chief Kuheana also pointed out that the vehicle in which the extraction demonstration took place was in an accident where the person in the vehicle was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown forward hitting her head on the windshield. The Fire Chief also stated that individuals are four times more likely to die if they are ejected from the vehicle. Seatbelts save lives!

"People are getting into accidents because of distractions such as cell phone usage while operating a motor vehicle" noted Staff Sgt. Edgar. "Here in the U.K. it is against the law to use a handheld cell phone while operating a motor vehicle."