The recent rescue by the South Walton Fire District’s Technical Rescue team in Florida is a great example of rescue where it is easy to access the victim by something as simple as a ladder, but where a rope based system might still be the best alternative for getting them down to the ground safely.
You can see in the pictures that the guys on the ground are able to guide the basket most of the way to the ground while it is supported on the ladder and being lowered with rope.
Two quick points: If possible, I would have tried to line up my ladder with my anchors so that it was all in plumb. Maybe there is a good reason they didn’t. It’s hard to tell from just a picture. Secondly, you can see how easily they overcame this by just having a rescuer on the roof do a very minor deflection by just pulling on the rope. It’s a good example of knowing how to easily overcome a problem by knowing a few physics tricks.
http://www.waltonsun.com/news/construction-worker-saved-by-swfd-1.297343#
Not all rope calls are high pucker factor incidents of life and death. Sometimes it’s just the simplest way of getting the patient to the ground. Good job, guys.
