ES Equipment AB was born out of an EU-funded project (MtiV) initiated when pre-hospital nurse Björn Åhlén was tasked with equipping the Swedish chemical response team at Swedish Rescue Service Agencies(SRV, today CSF). Early on, he realized that the scissors available for cutting clothing during life-saving interventions were far from optimal for their intended purpose.

During a large-scale decontamination exercise, it became evident that traditional scissors were inefficient and potentially dangerous when used to remove clothing from injured patients.

“In a major accident involving many severely injured people, using scissors takes far too long. There is also a significant risk of injuring the patient while cutting. Scissors limit operational capacity, and in the worst case, patients with severe injuries or medical conditions may lose their lives,” says Åhlén.

Engineer Martin Bergstrand, actively involved in the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, was commissioned to consolidate all technical requirements and develop a proposed solution. An initial concept for a new cutting tool was presented and quickly attracted strong interest. This marked the beginning of the development of S-CUT.

Together with trauma nurse Mimmi Olsson, ES Equipment established in 2005. By 2006, they introduce S-CUT 501, a revolutionary rescue cutting tool. The tool quickly proved to be both highly safe and extremely effective, earning strong acceptance from emergency departments and ambulance services. 

A tool designed to save lives

Imagine arriving at a major accident scene as part of a rescue team. Multiple people are in urgent need of life-saving care—this could be a mass shooting, a severe traffic accident, an explosion, or a chemical incident. To save lives, you must quickly access injuries, yet each person is wearing multiple layers of clothing. With only a pair of scissors at hand, time is lost, it simply takes too long.

As demand grew for a cutting tool capable of handling far more than clothing and motorcycle gear, the product continued to evolve. Today, S-CUT is available in four different models and is sold to military and rescue organizations worldwide.

The product has received multiple awards for its design, underscoring its innovation and quality.

Company locations

ES Equipment AB has its headquarters and marketing department in Munkedal, approximately 25 km north of Uddevalla on Sweden’s west coast. 

Product development and quality operations remain based in Karlstad.