VIDEO: Two local firefighters have come up with a new rescue device designed to protect victims and make firefighters’ jobs easier. WTOC got an exclusive look at the new piece equipment called the Thomas Life Capsule. Video shows the Thomas Life Capsule (TLC) in action at a training that was recently completed in Johns Island, South Carolina at a fire station where one of the creators of the device works. The other inventor who’s medically retired from the fire service lives in Rincon. The brothers, Kurt and Ryan Thomas, are hoping that one day soon this device will be used by firefighters across the country in real rescues.
The TLC is designed to protect victims from three things—heat, toxic fumes and transport injuries. The device also gives firefighters a faster and safer method to protect and remove people trapped in hazardous conditions. At their recent training, crews practiced deploying the capsule in burn building scenarios, packaging victims and performing rapid removals through simulated fireground conditions. Kurt Thomas says the training showed the devices effectiveness and it gave him hope for the lives that it might one day save.