I’ve been on somewhat of a rant about getting back to the basics with some extrication techniques lately.  Mainly because we sometimes get overzealous in our efforts to use the most fancy electric, hydraulic, or pneumatic tools.  Tunnel vision, maybe.  Remember, you may need two or three options to perform a rescue.  Keep it simple, fast, and safe.

A recent training opportunity allowed the same scenario to be set up 6 times.  The firefighters were told to perform the rescue the first time as they would if they arrived on this scene that night.  After each evolution, they were challenged to come up with a different option to perform the rescue.  We got back to the basics of work and mechanics after the first 3 attempts.  The times to complete the rescue with the varying techniques are recorded below.

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