Elevator Resue

Besides cutting the main power to the elevator and having the person engage the stop button what other safty issues need to be addressed during a "routine" elevator rescue? Any contructive input is appreciated!

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for who the victims or the rescuers??
read the IFSTA rescue manual
it has a great chapter on elevator rescue.
it is very informative especialy for the beginer or intermediate.
Good Luck.

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Corey J. Molinelli NREMT
Asst. Fire Chief

First safety rule: Wait for the Elevator Mechanic!
If that isn't a possibility then...
There are 2 basic types, hydraulic and traction. Hydraulic type use a ram to move the elevator, either directly or through a cable system. (Not that common here in the US, but popular in Europe.) Traction use cables over a traction sheave to move the car. On the other end is a counterweight. This type is better left to the Elevator Tech to remove people unless it a matter of life or death. Hydraulic types are fairly straight forward. Secure power at the disconnect, establish communication with the trapped people, use the hoistway door unlocking device (lunar key) to open the bottom landing door. This should be located in the emergancy key box or equipment room. Locate the elevator, have that person contact a person in the equipment room via radio to slowly open the manual lowering valve until the car starts down at a slow controlled descent, when it reaches floor level, shut the manual lowering valve. You can also let it go to the springs. Close the oil line shut-off, manually force open the car door, and assist the people out.

We send a response of a truck, engine and ambulance on all "release the elevator" calls. The ambulance is "just on case." We get a lot of old people to panic when the car gets stuck. Basic jobs: Engine is IC and takes the lobby. Truck driver goes to mechanical room and locks-out/tags-out power. Usually car is within a few feet of a floor and after opening hoistway door we can have the person step out. When greater differences in elevation (between landing and car floor) exist we use a safety line on the person with a folding ladder. We also try to not expose the shaft (have an area where the open hoistway door acesses the area under the car).

One trick we learned a few years ago is to try the Phase 1 recall (firefighters service) before we do anything. A lot of time this bring the person right to us. As for waiting for the mechanic, we tried that and it proved to be a stressful event for not only the victim, but the FD and bystanders.

Waiting for an elevator technician can be a long wait in my city. What we do is 1)Determine the exact location of the elevator car. 2) Establish coomunication with the trapped people. Make sure everyone is ok and there is no one needing medical assistance. 3) We secure the elevator by throwing the main disconnect which removes the power and applies the brakes. 4) We usually use a drop key to open the hoistway doors. 5) The removal of the passengers is dictated by the location of the elevator car in relation to the landing/floor where we may have to use a ladder. 6) a firefighter will enter the car to make sure the emergency stop switch is activated if applicable.
We try to let the trapped people know what is going on and what we are going to do. The fans and lighting will stay on because they are always on a differnt circuit than the main disconnect and will remain functional after removing power which will reduce panic.

Using the Fire Phase 1 controls sounds like a good idea that I will try. It could save a lot of time and effort.

THANKS!!!

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Also, remember to station a ff in the elevator main disconnect room to make sure power isn't turned back on inadvertently. The ff should be in radio contact with IC.

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