The TURK, Turnell, Universal , Rescue, Kart was invented by Greg Turnell a 25 year career firefighter. Assigned to one of the city’s busier truck companies Turnell identified a capability gap in the way firefighters transported their R.I.T. equipment on the fire ground. Traditional method entailed four firefighters on all four corners of the basket. This was an arduous task insomuch that the R.I.T. basket when loaded can weigh as much as 200lbs.
Turnell wanted to develop a device that was uncomplicated, multipurpose and most importantly fast! A device that could be deployed by one firefighter freeing up more personnel to accomplish other tasks on the fire ground.
TURK employs the basic concept of binding force to hold equipment such as stokes baskets and ladders in place. This enables the first responder to load equipment and or patients fast and easy. In addition to moving stokes baskets and ladders the TURK is adaptable to most backboards. The TURK’s simplicity is its best attribute which enables it to be used multiple ways and is especially useful in mass casualty incidents. TURK is ideal for fire and rescue, military, mine rescue and other emergency service applications.
The TURK was first used during the Metro train accident in Washington DC June 2009. With 500lbs of hydraulic tools loaded into a stokes basket two firefighters using the TURK were able to move the equipment approximately 1000 feet down the track bed to the scene of the wreck.