Rope Rescue Tower

[FDMedic143]

My volunteer dept is looking into building a rope tower behind our station for trainng purposes. We are the only department in the county capable of rope rescue operations and we are in need of a place to train. Our current training location is 45 minutes away and well out of our response area. I am looking for ideas on building a training site for rope ops.

[RNite1]

What need for rope rescue is there in your area? Possibly you could approach the owners of property/structures where your service could be used and ask them to allow you to train at those structures. I've always seen this as a win/win situation. The rescuers train at a place where they could actually be called upon to perform a rescue, and the property owners should get a warm-fuzzy not only by giving the place to train but also by knowing that the rescuers are gaining hands-on experience for a rescue on their property should it be needed. We have used the pump house at the sewer plant, empty tanks at water treatment, communications towers, tower cranes, a local hotel and parking ramps among other places.

Good Luck and Be Safe

Roger


To those who fight for it life has a flavor the protected never know.

[JAFA62]

I agree with Rnite use the buildings in your area. Now better place to learn then your own buildings in your county. As for making a building or some sort of tower why bother use the hall itself. Im sure if your seek permission from some of your building supers they would be glad to help.

[tecrsq]

I am going to agree with the others and urge you to try and build a repoire with the people in your jurisdiction in the hopes of them allowing you to train on site.

As stated previously it would be a win/win for all involved and the fact that you get to train on the very target hazards you will encounter will give you a strategic and tactical edge as well.

Use the time also to preplan as this will only get you out of the gate faster.

Our Swiftwater Rescue Team sought out a location 40 miles to our north with a North Georgia River running through it for training.

The resort community was approached by us to utilize their portion of the river for training as Etowah River in our jurisdiction lacked some of the technical river features that the Cartecay River possesed.

We initially started the relationship while scheduling a Rescue 3 International SRT Unit 1 class and now they allow our cities Team to train there as well.

They love to see us up there on their part of the river and it all started with us simply asking for permission.

[bkmcse]

This is what IFSI in Illinois uses. This is the one located in Cherry Valley, IL. It is made from Shipping containers. It aslo has openings so it can be used for Confined Space training as well.

[ff1680]

COuld build a tower with Telephone poles. In expensive and coudl adapt in many ways..

[herbroberson]

Do you have a local Reserve or National Guard unit (Army, Navy, Marine) that are Seabees, or Engineers - even a Transportation Unit ? A department in our area a few years back got a "Pole Tower" designed and built by a local Navy Reserve Seebee unit as a training project and all they had to provide was the telephone poles and pressure treated lumber. It is four story, roughly 20'x20' and is very adequate both for high angle training and smoke house training. Might look into it.

[lutan1]

This is what IFSI in Illinois uses. This is the one located in Cherry Valley, IL. It is made from Shipping containers. It aslo has openings so it can be used for Confined Space training as well.

I like the look of that set up! ;)

[CaptDon]

how much did that set up cost?? i love the idea of multi use training building. how much did each individual container cost, or is there someway to get them donatied or for free?? thx

[mcaldwell]

The containers are not incredibly expensive used, but expect to pay $3000-$5000 for a used 40 footer. 20 footers can be had for less on the used market. A good center with two brand-new 40's and a twenty on top, and some steel stair, door, and window modifications can be built for $50,000 or less for sure.

As for freebies, we just got a 20 foot freebie (almost new) from a local construction project. We approached the builder to see if they would sell it to us cheap after the job was done, and they ended up donating it for free if we took care of moving it (<$500 for a picker truck). It can't hurt to ask, and perhaps offer a tax reciept.