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Kickoff Pickoff Part Deux

Posted by rescue2training on January 18, 2013
Posted in: firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Another one off the front page of Statter911 is this video that redefines the Kickoff Pickoff. While the previous coverage HERE actually showed people getting kicked backwards into the structure, the video below is of the fire department’s lead off kicker on the kickball team trying his hand, foot actually, at technical rescue. Perhaps the speediest method ever of getting the victim safely to ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSlSHQvfVk&feature=player_embedded

Well, if too fast is bad ,then slower should be better right? I’m not so sure in this case. The rescuer looks to be rappeling on a figure 8 descender with some sort of autoblock, so he can go hands free if he needs to. Not a bad thought. The trouble comes from clearly not being comfortable using the autoblock. It causes him to start and stop suddenly a couple of times. Worst of all is that he overshoots the target because of it. If you’re taking yourself down a rope, it ain’t a bad idea to have a way to get yourself back up.

Do you equip your team with the equipment and knowledge to quickly switch to ascent should they need it while on rappel?

It wasn’t a huge issue here, but it could have a lot worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A11QlQ3V6hw

What is IKAR?

Posted by rescue2training on January 10, 2013
Posted in: high angle, highline, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Roughly translated from the ancient Nordic from which it derives, it means: a polytribal gathering of rescue people. Okay… That might be a bit of creative license. IKAR stands for the International Council for Rescue and is located in Switzerland. You can find their website HERE.

Check out the full length review of what happened at this year’s IKAR meeting in Poland. One of the neat things that stood out to me was the team from Tyrol, which does around 2000 calls annually, was using 8mm Spectra ropes. They’re ultra static and have around a 7000lb breaking strength. As you can see and hear in the video, you can’t put a knot in it and all terminations have to be spliced. Apparently it works for them, though.

Thanks to Spokane FD tillerman, rope geek, family man, and all around nice guy Mike Forbes for alerting us to this video.

Serious Rope Mojo

Posted by rescue2training on January 6, 2013
Posted in: high angle, highline, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 comments

While we’re on a highline kick, check out some footage from this year’s IKAR (International Council of Alpine Rescue) in Poland . If you think that you have some pretty good rope mojo, check out the video below of a highline to highline transfer of a packaged victim after they did a counterbalance raise for the vertical control line.Talk about some great line management and setup to be able to accomplish this. Go to the 2:50 mark to get to the rope stuff.

Yeah, baby!

powersteeth

The 5:00 mark of THIS video shows how they got the trackline across. Looks like I found a legitimate excuse to buy a crossbow!

Another Peruvian Highline Disaster

Posted by rescue2training on December 28, 2012
Posted in: accident, high angle, highline, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

If you ever find yourself in the country of Peru and are offered a ride on highline, it might be in your best interest to politely decline. If the trackline failure that we posted a while ago HERE doesn’t convince you, perhaps the videos below will.

The first video of this event shows the accident and subsequent recovery of the victim. It is interesting to see how the highline started up through a piece of metal that was used as a high directional. A little ways into the video you can see that the HD collapsed at some point, but you don’t see where.

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

This second video shows a different viewpoint that shows the HD failing right after the rescue package hits the lines; my guess is from the shock (not intended as a pun, but I suppose it is anyhow) loading. Also of note is what appears to be a multi (20!) point anchor that looks like it just goes to a bunch of guys holding each point. Pause the video around the :14 mark to see what I’m talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngr8DbOxkO0

Three points to note:

They were lowering the rescue package VERY fast and probably could not have communicated the “Stop” command in time, even if they saw the issue coming.

There was no horizontal control line for the down hill side. It wouldn’t have made a difference here, but there seems to be a lack of highline knowledge in Peru.

The people who set this trackline up apparently had no idea how to calculate the sag in their trackline that was needed to clear objects in their path and maintain a safe number on their (obviously) sketchy anchors and high directionals.

Does your team have the ability to calculate sag before setting up your trackline or is it a calibrated eyeball and more trackline tension that you rely on?

Appalachian Flag Pole

Posted by rescue2training on December 15, 2012
Posted in: appalachian doortex, confined space rescue, firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

This post was originally published in Dec of 2012. After switching servers we lost the video and some of the pictures.  We’ve recently found them again and wanted to repost this for the many people who contacted us during the past 4.5 years asking about it. Enjoy.

 

During our most recent “New Technologies” class in Lancaster, PA, we we were posed with the scenario of how to create a high point and system for rescue from grain silos. It was explained to us that the flimsyness of a roof on a silo doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to operate on. Not to mention that there aren’t that many anchors up there.

After thinking on it for a bit, we were able to come up with what basically amounts to a gin pole lashed to the interior ladder and rising up above the top of the silo, much like a flagpole. So we called it the Appalachian Flag Pole (naturally).

After searching around for a while after class, it appears we were not the first people to figure out the AF. The cell tower industry uses this sort of thing to raise sections of their towers. They just call it a gin pole…BORING.  As far I can tell, nobody has tried this as a rescue technique.

Boring Gin Pole:

cell gin

The basic setup of the Appalachian Flag Pole consists of lashing a few sections of an Arizona Vortex to the interior ladder of the silo. With about 3 feet of it sticking up above the top of the structure. Yes, it is unsupported, but there is not a lot of bending force on the top of the AFP. The resultant force is pretty much straight down the leg, with the force being transferred to the ladder.

Version 1 of the of the AFP had the haul system attached to the orange head, which is at the bottom of the AFP and lashed to the ladder, with a change of direction at the top of the AFP and the rope going back down to the victim.

IMG_1216

IMG_1224

It worked well, but required a lot of resets.

So, while working with Collin Moon and the guys from Elevated Safety in Chicago, we were able to refine the technique by attaching out MPD to the top of the AFP and do a counter balance raise. We also figured out that we could the blue AZV head for out top anchor point instead of a foot. And when Rock Exotica comes out with the 720 head…watch out!

Check out the video below to see the AFP in action. A couple of things to keep in mind: Where the camera is filming from would actually be the outside of the silo. Collin is the rescuer in this case; the victim outweighs him by a good 50lbs and he was still able to easily accomplish the task. This only happens when the rescuer hauls upwards on the victims line while simultaneously sitting down on the counterbalance line. Lastly, after the victim is out of the hole at the top (the metal grating in this case) they can be pushed to the outside of the silo and lowered with the MPD. If the video below is taking too long to load, CLICK HERE for the video on Youtube. Take a peak:

There are some urban applications that we believe the APF would excel at and will post the results when we complete the testing on it. It is our belief that it can be used successfully in the urban setting, such as the chimney in the picture below, where a man suffered a fatal fall into the chimney while attempting to take pictures. This happened in Chicago on 12/13. Article Here

CT Intercontinental00003.JPG

If you have any thoughts or comments, feel free to leave them or to contact me at kelly@rescue2training.com.  Enjoy!

New Technologies in Rope Rescue

Posted by rescue2training on October 29, 2012
Posted in: appalachian doortex, firefighting, high angle, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized, vortex. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Well it’s short notice, but we have had some significant interest in running another “Modern Technologies in Rope Rescue” class. So we’ve decided to add one more for the year.

We’ll be at the Lancaster County Public Service Training Center in Salunga- Landisville, PA on Dec 8-9 for this two day class covering a wide range of what’s new in the rope world. In particular, we will be working heavily with the CMC Rescue MPD (Multi-Purpose Device) and Two Tension Rope Systems. This system dramatically simplifies the rigging needed to execute the majority rope rescues.

We’re also going to be covering the use of  Arizona Vortex artificial high directional. While we will cover several traditional setup configurations, we  will also be showing the setup and use of the Appalacian Doortex in a couple of different configurations. Knotcraft, with a focus on the benefits of the bowline and it’s many variations, will also be covered in depth.

The cost of this 16 hour class is $280 per person. If you have any questions or would like more information, please give Kelly a call at 240-462-6610 or send an email to

rescue-2@comcast.net

I’ve Got a Fever…

Posted by rescue2training on October 15, 2012
Posted in: appalachian doortex, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized, vortex. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

…and the only prescription is more cowbell !

Just kidding, it’s more Doortex.

Continued work at the vacant buildings that double as the testing sites at R2T brought us to yet another variation of the Appalachian Doortex. We’re toying with the name Appalachian Slingshot (APS); again with the obvious shoehorning of East Coast stuff in to a rope topic. The APS concept was tested a few years ago when I hooked up and rappelled out of a window on it. The pictures below show us using it in an elevator shaft, but can be used out of a window or even for creating an anchor in a doorway.

The basic configuration for lowering:

This front tie is only needed when the APS is unloaded.

A change of direction was added to the haul line in order to make the hauling easier. We were able to pull down instead of up.

Here it is used to create a strong, simple doorway anchor. The AZTEK is there to pre-load the system.

Also under development is the stand alone use of leg sections sections as anchors in doorways. Here are a couple of pictures of two outer leg sections used to span a doorway and create anchor for the two MPDs used to raise and lower the load. We’ll be taking a serious look at this in the coming year to find out the limits of these leg sections.

Anchors are the Key

Posted by rescue2training on October 6, 2012
Posted in: firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

It’s obvious that anchors are the key to any successful rope rescue operation, but sometimes they just aren’t where we need them or they aren’t as strong as we’d like.  Take a look at the three anchor failure videos below for proof. While there are some slackliners who have an idea of the forces they are putting on their anchors, a lot have no clue. Evidence:

Maritime anchor failure:

If, however, you are interested in a strong portable anchor for your rope or vehicle extrication team, then take a look at the pictures below. James Hurley of Heavy Rescue Solutions has developed an aluminum anchor plate that can be picketed into the ground with three picket. Wrap the handle with webbing and pull away. The plate is roughly 3 feet long and weighs around 25 lbs without the pickets. The pickets can be driven by hand or with an air impact chisel which HRS has developed a special bit for. If driving by and with a sledge, they have developed a fitting to make it less likely to mushroom the head of the picket.

This anchor plate has been pull tested end to end and withstood 44, 000 lbf of force. The ability of the plate to hold a load is clearly dependent on the soil in which the pickets are driven, but early testing R2T did with James was conducted in a moist, loamy soil and the anchor held to around 8000 lbf after it settled in a bit. The newest version of this plate has been revised and James said it can hold quite a bit more than the prototype and with less settling in movement as well. He’s hoping to have everything finalized and ready for production at the beginning of November. If you are interested in the plate or want more information, give James a shout at:

heavyrescuesolutions@gmail.com

Appalachian Doortex

Posted by rescue2training on September 26, 2012
Posted in: appalachian doortex, confined space rescue, firefighting, high angle, rope access, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized, vortex. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 comments

Here are some new AZV uses we at R2T have been testing to see the real world practicality of.  There are some earlier proof of concept pictures on the multimedia page, but these were done in exposure with a two person load. They’re all versions of what we’ve decided to call the Appalachian Doortex (APD), an obvious attempt at getting some East Coast love into the rope world.

The purpose of these APD is to create either an anchor, a high directional, or both simultaneously in the urban environment. The initial thought was for use in elevators, but can obviously work to create an anchor anywhere there is a solid block wall surrounding a door. We run A LOT of stalled elevators in in the city where I work, 15 a day is about average in our geographically small city. Not many require any rope work at all, but the one’s that do can be a real pain. Have you ever looked in an elevator lobby for anchors or a high directional? Not much around. That’s the problem we were trying to solve.

The “Ram’s Head” is the first version we came up with. In this configuration we hooked both MPDs right to the head of the APD; there was no guying, tying, or anything. The foot of the lazy leg was not resting against the opposite wall. Aside from a very minor initial settling in of the APD, it did not move during the operation. It was loaded with a two person load that was raised and lowered several times. One of the MPDs was hooked up in a fashion that caused it to bind against the head of the AZV a bit because it allowed us to have the operating handle facing outward. Because of the angle of the rope leaving the MPD into the elevator shaft, this very minor binding was felt not to be an issue.

Next up is an Upside Down APD, with no clever name given yet. Maybe the Appalachian Lean-To (ALT)? Yup we’ll go with that for now.  Just another way to make an anchor/HD combo. Also loaded with a two person load, operated up and down a bunch.

Here is the close up of the dual MPD anchoring on the Appalachian Lean-To.

Below are two pictures of what we used to keep the the Appalachian Lean-To from kicking back should it have wanted to. It didn’t want to. We had a dynomometer in there to see if there was any force trying to push the ALT away from the opening. The needle didn’t move at all during the operation. We were pulling against an extra leg section of an AZV run through two 4×6 blocks with holes drilled in them to keep the leg section from resting on a small, roll prone contact point on the hoistway doors. We’ve been calling them “Brace Blocks” (Appalachian Brace Blocks?) They worked really well. I suspect they can be used to help span doorways in buildings to create quick, simple anchors in a hallway.

While we have not tested a center pulled AZV leg to failure yet, this one was pulled to 500 lbs without any visible deflection. Further testing on this configuration will be conducted in the near future and we’ll let you know what we find out.

If anybody has any thoughts, questions or comments on this, or would like further training on operating on rope in an urban environment please feel free to leave a comment below or send Kelly an email directly at rescue-2@comcast.net.

Knots Found on Mars!

Posted by rescue2training on September 8, 2012
Posted in: knots, rope rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

The Mars Rover “Curiosity”  has photographic evidence that even on Mars you can find evidence of the superiority of finely tied knots. Of course, the picture is of the Rover taking a picture of its own wiring harness. But it is still cool to know that despite all of the superiority of modern technology, that it still comes down to a clove hitch to keep a wiring harness bundled together countless miles from home. Members of the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) have defined exactly what kind of knots are used.

Whoa, wait. There is a GUILD for people who tie knots? Yes. Yes there is, here is their website:

http://www.igkt.net/

I was actually a member for a couple of years. I like rope; these people LOVE rope. You might even say they want to marry it, which any good member, past or previous, of the IGKT knows is actually called a bend. OK you can boo now.

My bad attempt at humor finished, here is a link to the story. Thanks to Joe Fefe of Winchester Sprinkler for knowing that if there was such a thing as the IGKT, I must surely have been a member and for passing this story on:

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-knots-keep-mars-rovers-laces-tied-red-141541222.html