Fire department's shift plaque reflects rescue work

MILTON — When a Milton Fire Department member joins or leaves the shift, the shift creates a plaque noting the date and new roster.

When the current members of MFD’s A-shift came together, they decided on an ambitious plaque, a functioning Hurst power spreader, also known as the Jaws of Life.

Every shift works 24 hours on and 48 hours off, from 7 a.m. to 7 a.m. every third day. Once A-shift decided on the power spreader for their plaque, each member had a hand in constructing it, according to Lt. Ricky Beech.

Capt. Geoffrey Freeman did the wiring and soldering for the mechanical parts. Beech cut the wood pieces and put the frame together. Firefighter Ben Stockdale also worked on the frame and fashioned the hoses. Firefighter Paul Gilliard hand-carved the handles. Firefighter Jesse Floyd helped sand, varnish and stain the replica.

According to Beech, the replica is a near part-for-part copy down to the replaceable tips.

"On the truck, it’s stored on a plastic plate," Beech said, so the crew used the same material for the plaque backing.

Not wearing a seatbelt can result in a person going through a windshield or bouncing around inside a vehicle, according to Beech.

Highlighting the plaque is about more than the project.

"The Jaws of Life is designed to extricate people from vehicles," Beech said. "Hopefully, everybody wears a seatbelt. That is the law in the state of Florida. A vehicle is designed to crumble in an accident. Therefore, the person is still safe inside the vehicle …

"We use the Jaws of Life to remove the vehicle from the patient."

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Fire department's shift plaque reflects rescue work