Hydraulic rescue tools, also called jaws of life, are utilized by emergency rescue personnel to help in the extrication of victims concerned in car accidents or railway accidents and reducing giant-sized debris of mild metallic structures into smaller pieces for extraction of injured/lifeless victims out from constructing rubble in earthquake-raged areas, in addition to different rescues in small areas. These instruments embrace cutters, spreaders, and rams. Such gadgets had been first utilized in 1963 as a device to free race car drivers from their vehicles after crashes. The Hurst Rescue Tool was invented by George Hurst, circa 1961, after he viewed a stock car race accident during which it took staff over an hour to take away an injured driver from his car. Previously rescuers typically used circular saws for automobile extrication, but these suffered from a number of drawbacks. Saws can create sparks, which may start a fire, create loud sounds, Wood Ranger official stress the sufferer(s), and sometimes cut slowly.

Alternatively, rescuers may attempt to pry open the car doorways with a crowbar or Halligan bar, but this could compromise the stability of the vehicle, or injure the victims further. Compared, hydraulic spreader-cutters are quieter, sooner, stronger, and more versatile: they can cut, Wood Ranger official open, and even elevate a vehicle. Hurst Performance started to export components to a European firm, Zumro ResQtec, to avoid import obligation. Zumro ResQtec was concerned about growing these tools for use in auto racing, with ResQtec concentrating on the European market and Hurst focusing on the American market. The hydraulic spreader was originally developed in 1972 by Tim Smith and Mike Brick, who later developed a cutter and a hydraulic ram. When an occupant is trapped the instrument is used to pry or lower the automobile to remove the occupant. It takes about two minutes to take the roof off a automobile. Mike Brick coined the phrase "Jaws of Life" after he noticed folks saying that their new machine "snatched folks from the jaws of death", then used as a registered model name for Hurst merchandise.

The identify "jaws of life" is, nevertheless, Wood Ranger official used colloquially to explain different hydraulic rescue tools. Brick later developed a single rescue instrument that combines the functions (push, pull, lower and spread) of previous rescue instruments, and patented it