RAPID-DEPLOY AND STORAGE MECHANISM FOR AIRBAG AND TOOL-SUPPLY HOSES
Twelve-inch plastic spools used in the wire manufacturing industry and aluminum tool boxes from our Saulsbury Mack heavy rescue unit helped our department resolve the problems we encountered with hoses during extrication procedures when we used to store our air hoses coiled in old SCBA or tool boxes. The deployed hose never achieved its full length, got severely tangled with other air lines and hydraulic and electrical supply lines during operations, and always seemed to want to recoil. These problems severely restricted the sometimes numerous repositionings of tools and bags common to an extrication operation.
Initially, we rolled the hoses on the reels and carried them in the aluminum boxes; doing this helped the deployment difficulties but not the pickup problem. We then modified the boxes to accept a shaft so that the reel could revolve. We cut a shaft collar in half and mounted it on the interior wall of the box. The collars then were drilled and tapped to accept 10.32x 1/2-inch stainless steel tlathead screws countersunk through the box wall. We initially intended to use a 11/4-inch shaft; this idea was abandoned to eliminate the possible loss of the shaft, as well as weight, by using two 11/4-inch, thin-wall bronze bushings cemented into each side of the arbor hole so that they protruded beyond the flange about three-quarters of an inch.
The new system includes a primary setup box that contains two reels, each reel containing a double length of air hose with relief valves and a double controller. The primary box is intended to be used directly from the apparatus air supply. The secondary box contains a single reel with two single hoses with relief valves, a double controller, and the regulator needed for use with an SCBA bottle. This setup is to be used when the apparatus cannot be positioned within 200 feet of the incident or when more than the two primary bags are used.
During the rescue operation, the box is laid down in the direction of the area of the operation, and the two hoses unroll completely straight and separated. Ilie box then can be moved out of the way to the staging area. The halved shaft collar allows full or empty reels to be removed for any reason. The hoses, held to the reel flange by a piece of rubber bungee mounted on the reel, readily pull off the reel.
