| On Wednesday May 25th, 2011, the Thorndale Fire Company traveled Alydar Road in the Bailey Station section of Caln Township for a Low Angle Rescue Training session. The evening began with Captain Dan Donnachie reviewing the equipment used for Low Angle Rescues. From there the group constructed an anchor off a large tree using a wrap three, pull two type of anchor. From a second tree, an anchor was created using a tension-less hitch by Firefighter John Cordisco. These two anchors were used to run a main line down the hill as well as a belay line (safety line).
Firefighter Kevin Kistler explained decent control devices and demonstrated how to properly rack the rope in a rescue rack. A decent control devise is a means of controlling how fast something falls, and this control is typically gained through friction of the rope passing through a device. After the lower system was complete and a belay system in place, the stokes basket was safely lowered approximately 200 feet down the steep hill. At the bottom of the hill, a patient was lashed into the basket and prepared to be hauled up.
Firefighter Solecki reviewed how to construct a z-rig used for hauling. A z-rig is one example of a haul device, or mechanical advantage system. Mechanical advantage systems haul a load and break the load down into a more manageable load to pull. A z-rig is a 3:1 system, therefore if you had to haul 300 pounds and a z-rig were used you would only be pulling 100 pounds.
Once all the systems were built and tested, the crew was safely hauled back up the hill with the patient.
Thorndale Firefighters will continue to train in rope rescue over the next few weeks to increase their knowledge and be more confident at performing this type of rescue. |
