RESCUE TRAINING

By Andy Speier

Consider this scenario: A parachutist is blown off course and gets caught hanging by their chute in a tree 150 feet off the ground. The branch nearest the ground is 50 feet away, and there’s no vehicle access to the site. Is your department or rescue team prepared and trained to initiate a rescue in this situation? How long until the parachutist becomes unconscious and unable to assist with the rescue?

In my July column (“Heads Up: The tools and techniques involved in tree rescue,” p. 84.), I discussed the types of tree-rescue situations you might encounter, the proper PPE and gear, as well as climbing techniques. This month, I’ll discuss how to perform the actual rescue.

Hazard Recognition
Hazard recognition is critical in all rescue disciplines, but there are specific hazards you must look out for when performing a tree rescue.
1) Overhead wires. Always look up. Are wires present? If so, what types of wires are they, and who can de-energize them?
2) Unstable overhead limbs. Are there limbs that are broken or recently cut that are unsecured and could fall on you? Look carefully before you proceed.
3) The health of the tree. Is the tree alive or dead? Use a tool to check the base of the tree for rot. How does it sound? Are there soft spots? If there’s a lot of rot, you may need to gain access via another tree and then lower yourself into position from above and swing over.
4) Tree inhabitants. Is there a hornet’s nest in the tree? If they’re disturbed, they can ruin your day.
5) Victim location. Where is your victim? Try to avoid climbing up just under the victim in case they drop tools and equipment and/or fall from the tree.
6) The rescue operation. You must ask yourself: Is this within the scope of our abilities and training? If not, call for appropriate resources.
7) The drop zone. To ensure a safe landing area, identify a fall/drop zone. Cordon off the area directly below where your team members will be climbing.

Victim Access
As with most rescue operations, we must access the victim to protect them from further harm and to assess any injuries. This may be easier said than done. If there are no low branches, you’ll need to use a ladder; however, if your ladder still doesn’t reach the nearest branch, you’ll need to climb the tree with climbing spurs and/or a climbing system. (For more information on climbing spurs and other climbing gear, see my previous column.)

After you start your climb, but before you make physical contact with the patient, secure yourself. Your split-tail system or buck strap will be quick and simple. A runner or long prusik wrapped around a branch is quick and easy as well.

When accessing the victim, first secure them to an anchor. This may be a pick-off strap between you and the victim or a strap from an anchor on the tree to the victim. If the victim is wearing a harness, a pick-off strap, runner or anchor strap will work fine. If they’re not wearing a harness, apply a victim harness or diaper seat to them and secure them to an anchor or yourself.

Once secured, protect the patient from further injury and treat their injuries accordingly. If C-spine immobilization and wound care are necessary, request a second rescuer to climb to your location in the tree and assist, if possible. One of you can perform patient care and stabilization while the other rigs a lowering system. Remember: The best care the patient can receive is on the ground, so the sooner they’re on the ground, the better.

Gaining Ground
You’ve accessed the victim, placed them in a harness and secured them to an anchor. Now, how will you get them to the ground? You’ve got a few options.

Team-Based System Operated from the Ground
In cases where running a lowering system from the tree may be difficult due to branches or the emotional state of the victim, a rescue team may run a lowering system from the ground. The rescuer who climbs the tree can trail two rescue ropes up with them Tip: When “trailing” a rope up, keep in mind that the rope may end up over and/or under many branches, causing the rope to get caught. Consider carrying a drop bag of smaller-diameter cord and then dropping it down and hauling the larger rope up through a better route of travel.
The rescue operation should go as follows:
1. Gain access to a location above the victim.
2. Build two anchors (main and belay).
3. Run the main line through a pulley and attach it to a braking device on the anchor below.
4. Attach the belay line to the anchor with a Munter hitch for belay (use an extra-large carabiner if possible). Note: The belay can be run from the ground or from in the tree. If it’s run from the tree, the belayer must be located below the Munter hitch for proper control. If it’s run from the ground, it will need to travel through a change-of-direction pulley on a separate anchor.
5. Attach the ends of both lines to the victim.
6. Instruct the team at the bottom to tension the main line.
7. Begin lowering the patient to the ground. Note: As the victim is lowered, a rescuer can descend alongside them using the split-tail system, or they can rappel alongside them to keep them clear of branches. A tag line can also be used and managed from below.

You may need to raise the victim slightly before lowering them. By vectoring the main line from below, you should be able to raise the patient to clear a branch and then enable the team to lower them to the ground.

With a full rescue team supporting your efforts, the raising and lowering can be done from the ground. But as with all operations, good communications between the rescuers in the tree and the ground crew is imperative.

Rescuer-Based System from Above
If you don’t have the support of a full rescue team, you may be better off running your system yourself from above the victim. Tip: Be sure to give yourself enough space above to make a mechanical advantage (MA) system to raise the patient.

Vectoring will not be an option in this case. Your anchor should be at least 4 feet above the patient’s harness D-ring. This will ensure that your MA system has enough room to pull the slack from the system and still lift the patient.

When lowering the patient to the ground using your own system, if no branches will interfere with the descent, an unattended lower is appropriate. If there are many limbs between the patient and the ground, one option is to attach a pulley to the main line and tension that rope from below. When using this technique or a simple tag line, the key is to distance yourself and the victim from the base of the tree. The farther away you can get, the easier it will be to guide the victim away from the branches. How far are you pulling them? Only far enough to clear any obstructions.

This operation should go as follows:
1. Gain access to a location above the victim.
2. Build an anchor above the patient.
3. Run rope through a lowering device. Note: This technique is a solo rope rescue technique, which uses only one rope. There’s no belay line. If you have the personnel and equipment available to have a belay line, then you can run it from above (via a second rescuer) or from below. This would mean that you’d have to bring an additional rope up the tree with you. When doing this, consider the following:
a. Personnel available;
b. Rope lengths available;
c. Whether the patient is conscious and able to grab branches on the descent and assist with negotiating branches; and
d. Whether the patient is sick or stranded.
4. Attach the end to the victim’s harness.
5. Lower the victim to the ground.

A Note about Tree Workers
If your victim is a tree worker who’s already wearing a harness and rigged up with their climbing system, then you may be able to descend next to them with a pick-off strap between you and take them to the ground.
To do this safely and properly, I’d encourage you to talk to arborists and tree workers in your area. Have them show you their rigging gear so that you understand how you can help them descend to the ground. With an understanding of how their equipment works, you may be able to get them to the ground soon after accessing them.

Lowering Devices
When lowering from a tree, the descent control device (DCD) will usually be rigged above the rescuer’s waist. This means that the rescuer will need to stand on a branch below the DCD that’s hanging above their waist. Not all DCDs can be safely operated from below. If you don’t have the proper DCD, consider using the following tools and techniques:
• Brake rack with dual hyperbars. If using a rack with only a top hyperbar, redirect the rope back to a carabiner above the rack to maintain control from below.
• Industrial and rescue descenders, such as devices from Petzl and SMC. These devices give the user control from below when re-directed with a carabiner above the device. One benefit with these devices is that if the user lets go, the device will lock up.
• Rescue 8 plate. When redirected with a carabiner above the device, this will work fine for a one-person load.
• A small anchor plate attached the DCD. This creates some distance from the original anchor and will allow for a place for the redirected carabiner to be secured.
• Munter hitch. This technique, which is my favorite because of its simplicity, is ideal as maximum friction is achieved when pulling straight down. It’s critical that the person running the Munter hitch is standing far enough below the hitch; having the hitch even with the user’s head is a good position. No re-direction is needed. Note: Use an extra-large carabiner as standard-size carabiners with 12.5-mm rope can be awkward.
• Because the Munter hitch will “run away” (drop the load) if the user lets go, I always use an auto-block wrap as a back-up. This is a friction hitch applied to the control side of the rope and attached to the harness D-ring or leg loop.

This technique is actually a variation of the Solo Rope Rescue Technique. (For more information, see “Do-It-Yourself Rescue,” January 2008, p. 86.) This auto-block wrap will ensure that if you let go of the rope, the victim will not fall to the ground. Note: This is not a prusik wrap, as a standard three-wrap prusik can’t be released when under a load. The auto-block can be slacked when under a load.

Jiggers & Anchors
For victims that need to be lifted slightly prior to being lowered, carry either a pre-rigged haul system (a mini 4:1 or jigger system is ideal) or the hardware, software and know-how to build a haul system with a progress-capture device.

Anchoring should be simple and fast because you’re building anchors to support single-person loads. To rig anchors to ensure victim safety, use short anchor straps that can be wrapped around an overhead branch. Sewn runners and tied webbing slings can be used in a girth hitch or choker for anchoring when loaded properly.
Anchors can also be placed around the trunk of the tree (if you can reach around it), or wrapped around overhead branches. When wrapping branches, wrap the anchors close to the trunk, where branches are strongest.

So What Happened?
What about the parachutist—who was a paratrooper—who got stuck in the tree? When the call came in, the local rescue team contacted their on-duty members, responded to the military base and performed the rescue as they had been trained to do. It’s important to note that the team had just completed a 3-day tree rescue class and had purchased tree-climbing equipment less than 4 months prior to the event.

It took nearly an hour to access the paratrooper as there were many branches in the way, and the rescuer had to climb 150 feet. The rescuers used a small hand saw to clear limbs making the acent for the second rescuer much faster, and they used the entire length of a 300' rope for their split-tail system.

The victim was eventually placed in a victim harness and, using a Petzl ID lowering device and the solo rope rescue technique, rescuers lowered him to the ground.

In this instance, timing was crucial. If this had happened 5 months ago, before the team started their training and acquired the proper equipment, the response and the outcome may have been very different.

The lesson: Be ready for anything. Always preplan for high-risk, low-frequency events. (And job well done for the newly formed Thurston County Special Operations Rescue Team.)

Andy Speier is a captain with Snohomish County (Wash.) Fire District 1, assigned to Engine 18. He is the district technical rescue team training coordinator and a training coordinator for the Snohomish County Technical Rescue Team. With a fire service career that spans 29 years and several departments, he is a partner in SPEC RESCUE International and a senior instructor for the Peak Rescue Institute. Contact him at 206/784-5272 or andy@peakrescue.org.