Heavy rescue vehicle

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A rescue unit in Helsinki, Finland. Click the picture to see a list of equipment.

A heavy rescue vehicle, often referred to as a rescue company, rescue squad, heavy rescue, or simply, fire engine is a type of specialty firefighting or EMS apparatus. Essentially oversized toolboxes on wheels, they are primarily designed for technical rescue situations such as auto accidents, rope rescues, swiftwater rescues, or collapses.

NFPA regulation 1006 and 1670 give guidelines and regulations for the operation of heavy rescue vehicles and also state that all "rescuers" must have medical training to perform any technical rescue operation, including cutting the vehicle itself. Therefore, in most all rescue environments, whether it is an EMS Department or Fire Department that runs the rescue, the actual rescuers who cut the vehicle and run the extrication scene are Medical First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians, or Paramedics, as a motor vehicle accident has a patient involved.

On the fireground, rescue squads may be responsible for truck company operations (such as structure ventilation, ladder operations, or Rapid Intervention Team operations) or search and rescue. They carry an array of special equipment such as the hydraulic spreader-cutters, wooden cribbing, electrical generators, winches, hi-lift jacks, cutting torches, saws and many other powerful and destructive tools. They can also carry the necessary equipment to respond to and deal with Haz-Mat incidents. These types of apparatus may also be equipped with a pump and tank(s) for water and/or foam.