rope rescue drill

[mendotruckwork]

I am planning a drill for the upcoming duty shift on rope rescue,
I am a rescue techician and pretty capable with knots and rope.
just to give the basics to the shift members I am going over
family of figure 8 knots, anchor points, water knot to make an achor point out of webbing, caribiners, pulleys, prussiks, and setting up a z-rig system as well as saftey and stokes basket managment. any other ideas to add to this drill?
thanks

[shammrock54]

We did almost the same drill in my dept in July, the only thing that i would add would be set up a for a repel and let everyone get a shot at it. It will add some fun to the class and for those that have never done it just might spark their interest to learn more and/or become more active in the tech side of things.

good luck, stay safe, teach well

[MtnRsq]

Make sure that they know a few hours playing with ropes and carabiners doesn't make them experts.... You may want to discuss scene-size-up issues in depth to help them recognize when to call for assistance.

Rappelling and other personal skills are always good. A basic understanding of loads/forces (force multiplication at anchors, etc.) is also good.

[laddercaptain81]

What about setting up a system for lowering a victim. You are going to show how to raise one but lets not forget those times when the victim is off the ground and must be lowered.

[resqtek]

Typically in rope rescue training, we train for the usual expected scenario. I like to throw in some problem solving like passing a knot through your system, retreiving a rescuer after mainline failure, rappelling past a knot, changing the mechanical advantage of the z-rig on the fly, etc. One of the most difficult parts of any rescue is sizing up the area for system setup. I have gone to various sites and taken pictures to use for a size up drill. Where to anchor, where to go over the edge, redirects, etc all need to be thought of.

[Local719]

Size-up practice is a great idea for additional drills. Look at your area and find places that you may need rope rescue. Look at anchor points, hazards, and distances. Practice at these places after training in a safe training area.