rope rescue

Skedge Protection

Posted by rescue2training on March 8, 2014
Posted in: firefighting, high angle, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 comment

We were messing around the other day with some variations on how to better perform the best way to get a vertically oriented basket up over a 90 degree edge, which is know alternately as the “Pike and Pivot” or “V Strap” technique.

The issue of effective, efficient edge protection for our ropes and webbing was given us a bit of a challenge until our resident old man (and connoisseur of Miller Lite on his days off) , Mike S, suggested that we try and use a Sked as edge protection. It’s smooth, tough, has plenty of places to tie it off, and is much wider than standard edge protection. We’ve dubbed it Skedge Protection.

It can only be described as having worked perfectly for this situation.

I have no idea what the long term durability would be if used as edge pro all of the time, but for what we were using it for, I’ll definitely grab it without a second thought next time.

2014-03-06 11.31.20

 

Sterling Rope Recall for AZTEK Cordage

Posted by rescue2training on January 16, 2014
Posted in: high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Sterling Rope recently released a voluntary recall for some of their 8mm sewn cordage. This affects some of the cordage sold with the popular AZTEK kit. Take a look at the images below to see if your cordage is in the affected lots. If it is, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of what to do:

Call Sterling at 800-788-7673 or email them at returns@sterlingrope.com.

I picked this up from The Spec Ops Blog, which is a very good website with a ton of great info. Check them out.

The full length version:

sterling recall page1

Sterling Recall page2

Sterling Recall page3

 

 

 

Debbie Downer

Posted by rescue2training on January 4, 2014
Posted in: accident, firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

While I’d love to start the year on a high note, this video of a rope rescue demonstration brought out the Debbie Downer in me. How many rope rescue guys does it take t screw in a light bulb? Answer: 7.  One to screw it in and 6 to point out how he could have done it better and more safely.

 

debbiedowner

With that in mind, I’d like to talk about the video below. There are a few things that jump out at me:

  • Firefighting gear isn’t technical rescue gear. I’d argue you are better off with the increased flexibility of your station uniform. The brim on the back of a firefighting helmet is great at keeping water and junk from falling down the back of your coat at a fire; it’s also great at hanging up on rope, railings, and everything else at a rope call.
  • While there are several examples of a worse edge transition, this one was successful, but had the potential for disaster. The mainline system was run under the fencing and the basket was placed over it. This created the potential for a pretty big drop. A belay line did not appear to be in place until the rescuer climbed over the fence.
  • There was no obvious edge protection for the main line. If the basket had dropped prior to the attachment of the belay line, it would have taken a pretty substantial fall on an unprotected edge.
  • The belay line was not along the same plane as the main line. If the belay line were to be needed, there would have been significant horizontal movement.
  • If using webbing to help lower a basket over the edge, consider wrapping a Munter (Italian) hitch around the railing rather than strong arming it.
  • A high directional would have solved most of these problems. Even just going over the fence would have helped quite a bit.  To reinforce the fence and keep it from collapsing back towards the anchor due to the resultant, a reinforcing strut could be put into place pretty quickly. Like this:

IMG_1403

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuBgM29mJgo

There’s a Right Way and a Wrong Way

Posted by rescue2training on December 7, 2013
Posted in: accident, high angle, highline, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

There’s a right way and a wrong way to move somebody over water. Being a rope geek, I think it should always be done with rope. There might be some debate about whether it always the right answer, but I would argue that almost anything would be better than what transpired in the pictures below.

A sick passenger on a cruise liner was being transferred to a smaller boat to be taken to shore for medical treatment. She was placed on stretcher and transferred to the smaller boat while both boats were under way ! 

Things are going along just fine (but just look at the snow and ice on top of the smaller boat):

boat transfer 1

Moments later, rescuer Bob “Butterfingers” Johnson knows that he will never, ever get rid of his nickname. This is the victim taking her unintentional swim test in 27 degree water:

boat transfer 2

Read the lurid details of the incident here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1378935/Sick-cruise-passenger-dropped-sea-Janet-Richardson-falls-botched-rescue.html

For another option of getting people off of a boat, check out the rope operation called a “Breeches Buoy”. It’s the older brother of the high line and was used  for getting sailors to shore off of ships that had wrecked near the shore. It is basically a high line with all controls for lowering and retrieving the victim based on the shore.

The_Life_Line_1884_Winslow_Homer

Water, Water, Everywhere…

Posted by rescue2training on December 2, 2013
Posted in: accident, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Here is a duo of rescues. Both involve rope and both involve water. They couldn’t be more dissimilar if they tried, though.

This first one is from Virginia Beach, VA where a worker on top of a water tower apparently slipped and fell and was caught by his fall protection system. He doesn’t appear to be a rope access worker; more than likely he is a brave cell tower worker who climbed over the side to do some work and slipped while climbing down or back up over the edge. That’s complete speculation on my part, but it fits the circumstances pretty well.

It looks like a pretty straight ahead pickoff with the rescuer being lowered and lifting the worker off of his system with a clearly visible AZTEK. Take a look at the victim standing in his relief step awaiting rescue. Kind of like a really small slack line attached to your harness. Not nearly as fun, I imagine. Good job by the fire department to try and do the simplest thing first: see if the ladder reaches, then set up for a rope rescue.  Thanks to Collin Moon of Elevated Safety for cluing us in on this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5acMiFmtKU

This next video was sent to us by Matt Hunt of Sterling Rope  and is now probably my favorite video on youtube! It really appeals to me for the fact that these guys are using really simple physics concepts, applied smartly, to accomplish a goal. Check out the slick use of the “pike and pivot” method as well as a two man rope winch. Not too far of a stretch from rescuing people instead of cars.

I was wondering who the brave guy was that hooked up to the car. The description says that they were able to snag a tow hook on it while standing on the ice without any problem.

Add Some Tension to Your Life

Posted by rescue2training on November 5, 2013
Posted in: high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

If you talk about adding a tensioned belay line to your system, you’re bound to develop some tension in your conversations with people who are not yet a fan of a tensioned belay line. The most common paradigm is to have a loaded main line and an untensioned, slack belay line; this is especially true in the fire service. Recently, however, there has been a bigger push towards sharing the load on both the main and belay line.

There are a couple of reasons for this push. On the fire service side of things, the advent of a device like CMC’s MPD which is able to serve as both a lowering device as well as a competent  belay device, has made it possible for departments to capitalize on the advantages of a two tension rope system while still having a piece of gear that meets the ubiquitous NFPA standard. The second reason for the recent trending towards having a tensioned belay line stems from some extensive research into the topic. At the forefront of this charge is Mike Gibbs and his company, Rigging for Rescue.

Just what are the benefits of having a tensioned belay? As you can see from the videos below, the load falls quite a bit less on a loaded belay line. This is because the stretch that would occur in the belay line is taken out by loading the belay line prior to its activation. This is a good thing! The longer you fall, the more likely you are to get run over by the basket or hit another object on your way down. In the case of a dual MPD system, you also get the added benefit of having a mirrored system at the anchor. It’s only one device to learn how to use, which is a nice added benefit if your team doesn’t get to practice as much as you might like. Check out a pretty in depth look at tensioned belays at :

http://riggingforrescue.com/files/Download/Rigging%20for%20Rescue%20-%20Rescue%20Belays%2C%20Long%20Lowers%20-2007.pdf

The following tests were all performed by Rigging for Rescue and used a 200 kg test mass, 30m of 11mm rope in service (except for the last one, which is 10.5mm dynamic) and a tandem prusik belay. The notable differences in how far the load dropped before stopping comes from tensioning the belay behind the prusiks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbDjC833Nz8&noredirect=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDNzlFg3EX8&noredirect=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_K9nXYocuE&noredirect=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrGCxwTKJkk&noredirect=1

Gallagher anybody?

gallagher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWCOHtaBSjk&noredirect=1

Be sure to check out RfR’s website for a lot of other great research and opportunity to learn from a very knowledgeable group.

http://riggingforrescue.com/index.html

Best way to traverse a highline

Posted by rescue2training on October 8, 2013
Posted in: high angle, highline, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

While it obviously is not for rescue, the concept of wedging the bicycle between two tensioned highlines is an interesting thought. If you have any thoughts on how to apply it to rescue, I’d love to hear them.

http://vimeo.com/76121144

Pulley Time

Posted by rescue2training on August 20, 2013
Posted in: confined space rescue, firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

If you’re pulling on pulleys, multiplying the power of your polyester,  performing a panoply of pick-offs, or trying to find a towel to wipe the spit off of your computer screen from reading so many “P” words in row; take a look at the videos below. They are each a description of how pulley systems work and are in order from simple concepts and explanations to a little more involved. You might know this stuff cold or it may be a good review. Either way, watching these videos is a fun and easy way to make sure all of the people on your team a staying fresh on pulley systems.

This first video is from the old Bill Nye the Science Guy show. If the opening cartoon brings you back to your youth, you can also look for “I’m Just a Bill” from Schoolhouse Rock. It must have been the same animator. Thanks to Phil Box at Rope Test Lab for posting a link to this

A little up the food chain is this classroom type demonstration from New England Rope:

Here is Pat Rhodes going over his 5 rules for a Mechanical Advantage system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J7Qk-atJbs

This last lesson for the day is Pat explain how to stagger your compound Mechanical Advantage systems so that they collapse at the same time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOwZe8jDiag

Dude, I Just Sharded

Posted by rescue2training on July 28, 2013
Posted in: accident, high angle, rope access, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

What, climbing up the outside of the Shard in London is not what you were thinking?

Six activists from Greenpeace were protesting oil drilling in the Arctic and decided to let the world know about it by shouting it from the roof top. The roof they chose, however, was the top of the Shard in London which is 1017′ high. It took them 15 hours to make the climb up the outside of the building. From looking at all of the pictures, it sure looks like they were well prepared to make the ascent without trouble.

shard protest

As a rescue consideration, it sounds like there were several points along the route where a rescuer could have accessed a climber without having to start at ground level. Letting them get to the top to make their point and then arresting when they came in was probably the easiest way to deal with the situation without any snafus and without placing anybody in additional danger. Should it have been necessary though, this kind of climbing and exposure is certainly outside of the normal scope of the urban rescuer. All the more reason to train and be equipped for just such a rescue.

Here is some video from the climb:

Climbing that is a little less well planned is the focus of the story Height of Stupidity which highlights the exploits of British youth who free climb cranes and other high structures. Ah, the invincibility of youth ! Sooner or later the inevitable will happen and somebody’s grip won’t be as strong as it was yesterday or they had a moment of clarity and decided they were scared and are hanging on for dear life. Whatever the case may be, somebody is going to have to go and get them.  Just as with the Shard climbers it is going to take some lead climb skill and in this case, will also require a harness be put on somebody who doesn’t already have one. Hopefully your team is prepared for that. If you don’t have a manufactured victim harness, make sure the team knows how to fashion a webbing seat around somebody who isn’t willing or able to lift their legs up to slide into a harness.

brighton20

Stay Safe!

Open Enrollment Time!

Posted by rescue2training on June 30, 2013
Posted in: appalachian doortex, firefighting, high angle, highline, knots, rope access, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized, vortex. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Enrollment is now open for our Modern Technologies in Rope Rescue. The class will be held August 24 and 25 at the Lancaster County Public Service Training Center in Lancaster County, PA at a cost of $295 per student.

This class covers multiple versions of the bowline along with some pretty god reasons to consider them, several uses of the AZTEK kit, a thorough introduction to the Two Tension Rope System concept with the MPD, and the use of the Arizona Vortex Artificial High Directional in some pretty typical urban setup configurations as well as some Rescue 2 Training exclusive uses of it in a few of the Appalachian Doortex configurations. As you can see in the pictures below from our last class, we did a good bit of work with the Rock Exotica UFO. One particularly challenging and fun scenario was to change the direction of our main and belay lines 180 degrees on an anchor that was free floating in the middle of the stair landing. There was also some excellent use of the UFO to simplify the rigging of a Two Rope Offset.

In addition to the Arizona Vortex, Appalachian Doortex, MPD’s, UFO’s, and AZTEK’s, we’ll also have available for use in this class three new products (some not even on the market yet) from Rock Exotica:

The little brother of the UFO; the rockStar.

The Enforcer load cell; which features swivels at both ends, a digital readout, and Bluetooth transmitting capabilities!

The AZORP (Arizona Omni Rigging Pod); an add on used to increase the already amazing flexibility of the Arizona Vortex.

open enrollment August 2013

Here are some pictures from our last MTRR class; we did some heavy duty 3D rigging along with some urban AZV usage:

IMG_1408 IMG_1412 IMG_1420 IMG_1429 IMG_1432 IMG_1434 IMG_1393

This class is different each time we run it and we’ve developed new techniques each class with input and ideas from the students. If you’re interested in seeing and helping develop what’s on the cutting edge of rope rescue equipment and techniques, contact Kelly to reserve a spot in this popular class. Call 240-462-6610 or send an email to rescue-2@comcast.net