Controlled Impact Rescue Tool

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Controlled Impact Rescue Tool Video

Tales of Testing
John Carnett, Staff Photographer
I’ve built concrete walls and I’ve knocked them down, so I know what it’s like to swing a sledgehammer until your arms go numb. But today I’m wielding a concrete-blasting piston that smashes through walls like the Kool-Aid Man. The tool is designed to help firefighters rescue people trapped behind rubble or in collapsed buildings—and do it fast. My partner and I each grab one end of the 100-pound machine and push the nose against a six-inch-thick slab of concrete. “Three, two, one!” He pulls the trigger, firing a blank rifle cartridge that punches the piston forward, smashing five inches into the cement. We repeat 12 times, loading in a new cartridge for each blast. Sixteen minutes later, we’ve knocked a manhole-size opening in the wall through which we could pass supplies. That’s twice as fast as it would take a crew using chainsaws, drills and those arm-killing sledgehammers.
raytheon.com