Holmatro is an international company producing hydraulic equipment and systems for industrial applications and emergency services using

hydraulic rescue tools Hydraulic rescue tools, also known as jaws of life, are used by emergency rescue personnel to assist in the extrication of victims involved in vehicle accidents, as well as other rescues in small spaces. These tools include cutters, spreaders, ...

. Headquartered in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, it was founded in 1967 to supply hydraulic equipment to the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry. Holmatro has branches in the US and China, as well as a worldwide dealer network. Its American branch, Holmatro USA, began in 1984 as a one-man sales office, followed in 1988 by a manufacturing and distribution facility near

Baltimore/Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...

Glen Burnie, Maryland Glen Burnie is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population of Glen Burnie was 67,639 at the 2010 census. History In 1812, Elias Glenn, a d ...

. At the time, the privately-owned company had $15-20 million in worldwide sales and 100 employees. Between 19962018, the company had a sponsorship arrangement with the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

and

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

. The Holmatro Safety Team performed extrication using their rescue tools and included emergency medical treatment personnel for

American open-wheel car racing American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events ...

events nationwide. The Team, acclaimed for its extrication expertise, travels around the US for every IndyCar race and has demonstrated the techniques used at car racing trade shows. IndyCar racer

James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...

praised the Holmatro Safety Team for saving his life when he was impaled by his car and severely injured in a horrific crash on May 18, 2015, during an

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

practice run. In the aftermath of the Hinchcliffe crash, IndyCar Track Safety personnel consulted with Holmatro for improved methods to cut through

Zylon Zylon (IUPAC name: poly(''p''-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole)) is a trademarked name for a range of thermoset liquid-crystalline polyoxazole. This synthetic polymer material was invented and developed by SRI International in the 1980s and manufact ...

panels that had made the extrication more difficult, compared to ordinary steel or aluminum car bodies. Since 2018, the IndyCar Safety Team has been sponsored by AMR, although Holmatro continues to provide the Team's rescue tools. Holmatro's hydraulically-powered spreaders and cutters are used by fire rescue services to extricate accident victims quickly from mangled vehicles. Although sometimes colloquially called "jaws of life", that term is a registered trademark of Hurst, a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

-based competitor making similar devices. Automotive manufacturers provide information about the design of their products and materials used to the rescue tool makers. Holmatro, for example, provides a book to fire departments depicting the location of air bag and seat belt tensioners, which can otherwise hamper extrication efforts. The company's representatives conduct demonstrations of their extrication tools for fire departments, using wrecked automobiles provided by insurance companies.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Holmatro Global

Holmatro UK
Manufacturing companies of the Netherlands Emergency services equipment makers