rescue

All posts tagged rescue

Rescues… Fast and Slow

Posted by rescue2training on February 28, 2014
Posted in: accident, firefighting, high angle, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Here is a comparison of rescues performed at different speeds. The first one is an actual rescue from down in Florida of a worker who was suspended in his fall arrest harness after the scaffolding he was on collapsed. The word from our sources who were on the scene informed us that it took 1.5 hours to perform this pickoff rescue. I was not personally there and can not speak first hand of the details, but I am told that it was a pretty straight forward scenario that just took a very long time to accomplish.

 

The good news is that it was successful, but had the victim been in distress, it might have been a different outcome. A pickoff should be one of the bread and butter operations of every rope team. On the scene is not the time to figure out where your attachments go to the victim, method of unweighting them from their system, etc… This should all be hammered out and drilled on well in advance.

Click here for the story and video:

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/02/10/scaffolding-collapse-traps-workers-in-ft-lauderdale/

 

The opposite end of the spectrum is this video, brought to our attention by Eric Ulner of Ropes that Rescue, of a rescue competition which includes pickoffs. These guys are FAST!!! It looks like the video is sped up, but this is just the end product of dozens of hours of disciplined practice.

While real world rescues obviously present situations you are unable to specifically PLAN for, you should always be PREPARED for what might come your way. Rescues don’t need to happen at competition speed, but that’s no excuse for taking an excessive amount of time, either.

Fear of Heights and Faith in Your Equipment

Posted by rescue2training on February 1, 2014
Posted in: technical rescue. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

This post doesn’t have anything to do with ropes, however, it is a pretty clear example of overcoming your fear of something like heights which in this case happens to be 128,000 feet above the Earth. You better believe that Felix Baumgartener had faith in his training and equipment to step off of his balloon platform and free fall past Mach 1.

I think the parallels for rope work are similar, albeit not usually as extreme. So the next time you get butterflies in your stomach before you go over the edge, remember that you could be staring over your toes 26 MILES down to the ground. Trust your training and your equipment.

 

 

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

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

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

A Tale of Two Highlines

Posted by rescue2training on June 25, 2013
Posted in: high angle, highline, knots, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 comment

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Best

Taken at face value, this is just a really ballsy, really beautiful shot of somebody walking a tightrope/slackline over Yosemite Falls. Completely ignoring the fact that I generally have the balance of a member of Delta House (Animal House) on a Friday night, I wouldn’t do that on my most fearless day even if I could walk a razor straight line.

The rigging, however, is what I was most focused on. The line that the guy is walking on is anchored on terra firma on one side and is anchored off to another highline on the other side!!!

The deflection in the anchor highline looks to be practically nil. The forces of a highline pulling on a highline, especially one with very little deflection, are likely to be pretty darn high. I guess that it worked, so I shouldn’t take too much issue with it. But there are several things that I saw that gave me a bit of pause. Aside from the fact that it’s a highline attached to a highline, the floating anchor side is attached with either multiple slings or a doubled up sling. Regardless, it is presenting a hell of a tri load on the single carabiner used for the attachment.

Secondly, it doesn’t seem like the smartest idea to me to be cutting the trackline with a knife; especially with one so small, doesn’t lock, and isn’t tethered off. The release of tension on the anchor highline causes the predictable, violent release. The chances for that blade to cut something you’re hanging on is just too much risk for me… but nothing bad happened here, so maybe I’m just more risk averse. Maybe a happy compromise would have been cutting the line with some scissors or trauma shears. I’m curious why they had to cut the line at all, though. It had to get out to that point somehow prior to it being tensioned.

Regardless, it looked like a great time to be communing with nature while on rope.

Worst

A not so great communing with nature while on rope is summed up in this picture from India.

INDIA-NEPAL-WEATHER-FLOOD

Torrential rains in India this week caused some massive flooding and landslides that have left over 1000 people dead.  HERE is the story.

Nice use of two tracklines in order to keep the sag to a minimum and people out of the water. The slack control lines can be forgiven because, according to the article, these type of highlines were being used to transport multiple people to safety in a short amount of time.  A good trade off/ system analysis/ threat assessment in my opinion.

Back in the Swing

Posted by rescue2training on June 10, 2013
Posted in: firefighting, high angle, rope rescue, technical rescue, Uncategorized, vortex. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Well, after finally getting off of a 3 month ambulance rotation on “The Soulcrusher”, I’m hoping to be back in the swing of regular posts here on the website. In the vein of getting back in the swing, here are a few unique things related to ropes and swings:

First up is the world’s most expensive swingset, probably the most portable, but you’ve got to pay for the privilege.  I try to keep my hands on rope at least once a day; since this day was so beautiful, I decided to take out the ol’ Arizona Vortex and goof around a bit. Because there is no cliff in my yard (yet), I had to settle for a flat land configuration. I used my AZV, a couple of AZTEK’s, a bosun’s chair, and a 4 year old. Here’s the result:

IMG_7122

Of a more daring nature is the rope swing as pioneered by rock climber Dan Osman. While he ultimately died doing one of these jumps, it is pretty neat to watch the cajones this guy has to be able to do this stuff. He basically sets up a highline and, with a separate rope attached mid span, takes a free fall jump perpendicular to the track line. When the separate rope he is attached to comes tight, he goes for one hell of a long swing. I guess that, with the rope stretch and moveable mid span anchor, this is greater than a FF 2. If anybody agrees or disagrees, I’d love to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si2j6IaKQGU

In stark contrast to Dan, I present the world’s slowest, yet safest, rope swing. Here is a shot of the rope offset that we set up in the last “Modern Technologies” class in Lancaster, PA.  We had a main and belay coming from each side and connected to a Rock Exotica UFO to help keep all of the attachment points ultra clean. A CMC MPD was used on each side to control the main lines and and i’D and Petzl ASAP used for the belay lines.

IMG_1383

A close up of the UFO on Rick Croft’s harness:

IMG_1385

Stand by for more frequent postings again. Thanks to everyone who keeps checking in!