NEWS/EVENTS/STORIES

 

July 13, 2003

Dear Mr Daniel:

Most beaches in Japan open for summer season at July 1.$B!!!!(BIn Kanagawa prefecture, an opening ceremony was held at Katase East Beach where our company manages the lifeguard section. During that ceremony, rescue demonstrations were showed by Coast Guard, Fire Department, and Lifeguard. We used pwc and the Extractor sled for that show, and many people gave us praise for simple and quick rescue method. This good evaluation was not obtained without your kindly cooperation. We would like to say thank you, and we send some pictures from that rescue demonstrations.

Sincerely yours,

Kazuhiko Matsushita
Managing Director
ELC Corporation
441-1-A1201 imajyuku Chigasaki Japan 253-0072

 

 

March/April, 2003

Training basic open water RWC operations of 180 Fire/Rescue Personnel from the Malaysian Fire Rescue Service (JBPM)

Check out the basic things they learned and the photo album- click here

 

11/27/02

Tow-in Surfing Events: Extractor PRO Sled Survives Pummeling At Jaws!

On 11/26/02, one of the largest swells of the year hit Pe'ahi (Jaws) on Maui, producing 30'+ sets, with 60-80' faces!

Pe'ahi, with the assistance of Mother Nature, performed their own equipment quality control test on this day. At least 4 Skiis and 4 Sleds, one of them belonging to Extractor tow-in team riders of Manny Carabello and William McCormick, were put to a very fair test under similar circumstances. For the most part, the equipment failed to survive the test. Most of the equipment were lost after performing a pickup in the impact zone and losing control of the ski upon an incoming wall of whitewater. Several series of whitewash tumbled the skiis, the sleds, and the surfers 100 meters or more until they were washed up against the rocks on shore and pounded some more. Most of the sleds were ripped off of the skiis before they even made it to shore. Manny tells his story on the events that took place on this day.

" It was the kind of day you wait and wait for, never knowing what will be the end result when the sun goes down.

My partner, Willy, and I had a good go at Pe'ahi. Willy had a lot of friends up on the cliff which were leaving town in a few hours, so he ask me to tow him first; being the self-centered, aggro waverider I am, I reluctantly said yes.

I towed him into some bombs, and he made every one of them, until he hit some heavy jetski chop coming up the face. Being a backside surfer at Jaws, he didnt handle it that well.

Willy went down and I rolled the dice slightly, and went straight in to grab
him. Perfect pick up and aced the exit until that Yamaha 800 failed to be the
better machine at Jaws. Anywhere else, I may have cut the mustard; but, it
proved to be no match for the beast that day.

Sure enough, I bought the farm and went for the rare ride in the white water
with Willy's Water Bike. I finally got ripped off. One of my fellow comrades
picked me up and another grabbed Willy. Before we could do a thing about it,
the water horse(pwc) was on the rocks getting pounded to pebble pieces. It was
so totaled that I knew Willy was getting a new ski from the insurance company
before the end of the season.

The only thing that made it through the total destruction was our Extractor
rescue sled.

The thing got smashed for at least 15 mins. on the rocks. And, believe it or not, it was
the only thing that came home with Willy that day.

I saw many other sleds , Turbo, High Surf, and BZ's get ripped to shreds
before they even made it to the rocks.

Extractor sleds are made bullet proof. If it can handle the grips of Jaws, when
everything else needed to be heli-ported out, you know it is worth the money.
Extractor Sleds is the Sled you need, that is why the best in the world use
it!"

Fortunately, no one drowned or were seriously injured (It was reported that one surfer sustained a ruptured eardrum and a bruised head), especially considering the kaos that was created from the 15+ pwcs in the water, and the fact that several surfers out there had little experience with the break and were riding inadequate equipment for the conditions. Some of the surfers had to be picked up and rushed out of the impact zone by Extractor Team Members and legendary Tow-in Surfing Pioneers, Darrick Doerner and Laird Hamilton. These two guys have the most experience surfing the break and their surfing and water rescue skills show it! To read more on this epic surf day at Jaws and to see some outrageous photography of the action, check out the March, 2003 issues of Surfer Magazine and Surfing Magazine.

We had an opportunity to take some photos of the sleds that went through the shore grind at Pe'ahi and below are the results:

Wahoo Lifesled Structural damage sustained to laminated skins at seams, rail, and attachment points for side stabilizers. Major Repairs Required To Put Back Into Service.
Turbo Surf Sled Snapped In Half. Total Loss. So Much For Lighter Being Better. Weak Construction Materials and Design. This type of sandwich construction does not add any strength where it is needed most to prevent the sled from buckling (the rail). You Get What You Put Into It.
EXTRACTOR PRO (Hollow Core) The Extractor Pro retained its shape, it did not sustain any damage to attachement points or connections, and did not sustain any dings to the hull exposing the core. The sled did not take on any water, it only sustained multiple scratches on the surface. It was ready for service as soon as it was recovered from the water.

4/15/02

Commentary: Is "Soft" really all that Soft?

Some lifeguards and tow-in surfers have expressed a misconception that a sled needs to have forgiving rails like those found on a bodyboard or a soft inflatable or a flexible bag-like contraption. The reason for this is for fear that should they inadvertently steer the pwc and sled into a distressed swimmer in a manner, whereby, the sled hits the swimmer in the head, it will not knock them out or bludgeon them.

What needs to be addressed is that whether a sled is made of foam or a sled is made of a more solid material, if they are equal in weight,deflect or absorb impact similarly, and they make contact with an individual at the same speed, they will perform equal amounts of force on the individual.

F=ma (Force equals the mass or weight of an object, multiplied by the acceleration of the object at the point in time it makes contact with another object.) If you do the math you will see that both sleds would inflict the same amount of damage. A sled with a soft rail will only benefit by a slim margin. A sled with bottom features, such as deep channels, cause the sled to bite the water, preventing it from fishtail whipping out at the victim, minimizing any force presented upon the victim, and causes the sled to trailer properly behind the pwc. There is more risk of a vicitm being hit by the pwc hull on a pickup than with the sled.

Flexible sleds do not work well and they are dangerous. A flexible sled may be a soft object to run into someone with, but should the pwc stop forward momentum suddenly, the flexible contraption will fold up and collapse in on itself. I have seen this happen before. The lifeguard riding on the flexible sled (a foam stuffed bag) lost some of his front teeth because the flexible sled caused him to ram his head into the rear of the pwc seat.

Extractor has 100s of sleds in use worldwide, and in the 10 years of their use, not once has someone reported to Extractor that they hit someone or were hit by the sled with enough force to cause harm. And, we are always asking for feedback from our customers. The Extractor Sled, with its deep channels in the tail, follows behind the pwc and tracks nicely. This feature makes it more probable that you would hit someone in the head with your pwc than you would with the sled.

Extractor incorporates a feature into the sled design by using materials that allow for impact absorption, much like a bumper. The sled incorporates a rigid hull with a flat deck surface for c-spine injuries; and, although not as soft appearing as foam materials found in bodyboards, it deflects as much as bodyboard foams do and it is more durable. Extractor could make a sled that is real soft and cushion-like. However, in doing so, we would be sacrificing durability and quality. We would rather produce a quality product than one that would adopt a bad reputation for falling apart...lives depend on it!

4/ 15/02

Commentary: Baskets vs. Sleds, Proper Flotation and Stabilization

Some rescue trainers and personnel will argue that the basket is the right tool for the job because you can get the basket to sink under the person and you can secure them into the basket easily without having to lift a cold, heavy person onto a sled. I tell them, you have not tried an Extractor. The stability offered in the Extractor is unsurpassed. The instability of a single point or the sloppiness of a 3-point hookup not well-designed forces the rescue swimmer to spend a great deal of energy concentrating on stabilizing the sled or basket and maintaining balance. This energy could better be used by focusing on securing the victim. The stability in the Extractor sled offers this. One can focus in on grabbing the victim and swinging them around to the rear of the sled. With pwc in motion, the victim's body parallels the water surface, allowing the victim to slide up easily onto the deck of the sled.

 

 

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