SEARCH and RESCUE TECHNOLOGY: Saving Victims Trapped Under Concrete

http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/cirt/

New tool allow first responders to reach those trapped beneath concrete more quickly; the tool generates a high-energy jolt to create a contained hole in the concrete; a series of these holes allows the creation of an area large enough to deliver vital supplies such as food, water, and medicine to victims before first responders are able to get victims to safety.


When the twin towers collapsed on 11 September 2001, one of the challenges that first responders faced was cutting through concrete to get to victims trapped under debris — a common problem when tragedy strikes.

Breaching reinforced concrete has long been a race against time when relying on drills, saws, and jackhammers – a race which those trapped under slabs of concrete, and those who were trying to rescue them, often lost.

DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has developed a new tool to help fire departments and search-and-rescue teams better deal with such challenges in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.

In 2007 S&T led the development of the Controlled Impact Rescue Tool (CIRT), designed to cut through concrete with speed and precision. The CIRT uses blank ammunition cartridges to drive a piston that generates a high-energy jolt to create a contained hole in the concrete. A series of these holes allows the creation of an area large enough to deliver vital supplies such as food, water, and medicine to victims before first responders are able to get victims to safety.  Read more.