The Penn Valley Fire Protection District has joined other districts in Nevada County in having battery-powered “jaws of life” equipment for extricating people trapped in their vehicles after an accident.  They’ve received a 177-thousand dollar grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Battalion Chief Jon Pitts says they’ll be getting new sets for their main station and the one in Lake Wildwood and also one for the Rough and Ready station that merged with the Penn Valley District recently…

 

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And Pitts says every second counts toward saving lives. He says it’s hoped the new “jaws of life” will cut the average extrication time in about half, or to around 10 minutes.  The district’s captain says traffic accidents are a leading cause of traumatic injury in Penn Valley and Rough and Ready. Pitts says although incident numbers are fairly steady he indicates some notable seasonal fluctuations this time of year…

 

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Pitts says the Penn Valley District hopes to receive the new sets by around Christmas time. The Office of Traffic Safety says between 2019 and 2023 43-percent of people killed in crashes nationally were still alive when first responders arrived.