Rapid Intervention - "Columbus Kit" for Firefighter Rescue - PART 1

PART 1 - "Carabiner" Technique

This is a compact kit that can be used by a Rapid Intervention Team to rescue/extract an injured or unconscious firefighter that has fallen through a hole in a floor or roof. We call it the "Columbus Kit" in honor of the Columbus Ohio Fire Department who shared the lessons they learned from a LODD they experienced on July 25, 1987. John Nance died when he fell through a weakened section of floor into the basement of 4 story commercial building and could not be rescued before he exhausted his air supply.

The kit contains 2 - 50 foot sections of 5/8" rescue rope, 2 XL locking carabiners, 1 custom made storage bag and a 12 foot "Quik Step" folding ladder. Our RIT will only perform this type of operation when the floor or roof is strong enough to support a rescue attempt from above. The kit we assembled has more than 7 options for deployment - Using either one or both ropes together. The 3 primary methods include:
1. Carabiner/ Shoulder Strap Technique
2. Full Body Harness
3. Handcuff Method

We use the "Quik Step" ladder to access the trapped firefighter, but only when the hole is large enough to accommodate both the ladder and the firefighter descending/climbing it. Otherwise we reach the trapped firefighter by performing a hose line slide or lowering a rescuer down with one of the Columbus Kit ropes.

We put this kit together about 15 years ago and refined it to what you see in the video. There are more techniques to show, but the video would be over 30 minutes long. Part 1 describes setup and assessment procedures and concludes with a demonstration of the "Carabiner" Technique. Part 2 includes demonstrations on how to rig the "Full Body Harness" and "Handcuff" Techniques.

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Comment by DALE G. PEKEL on August 13, 2009 at 5:29pm: Refreshing to hear your comments brother - That's truly the level that everyone needs to get to with any of these tactics. The victim and rescuers need to be able to operate in zero vis. and still function even after they have been stressed and pre-fatiqued. We've had guys attach the webbing to the shoulder straps in as little as 35 seconds and as high as 2 minutes. Using the 'Big Loop" the fastest was 20 seconds and the longest was over a minute. That's with the vic on air with the facepiece blacked out and the lower level smoked up so the top side rescuers couldn't see the vic without using a TIC. To simulate the physical and mental stress of a real emergency, some of my Instructors will even go as far as having the students (rescuers and victim) breach a wall before performing the extraction.......This might be a little over the top for some though.

Continue the good work and keep making them safe.

Comment by FETC on August 13, 2009 at 4:07pm: I will look for the video. It was posted here on FFN as well. I have been teaching Safety/Survival for almost 10 years too. The nance drill has many versions of extraction. We teach lowering a hoseline into the hole, the firefighter has the option of protecting himself. The other option is if he was physically able to hook up your webbing extrication technique, then he could use that same hoseline for rapid extrication. The quickest is to stand on the pistol grip and hug the hose while the hose is pulled up and out of the hole. We used a modified version of this last spring with a fellow brother who fell through the floor into a well involved basement with a 2.5" line, the guy walked the debris while holding onto the bale as the line was extracted from above. The other technique would be if the nozzle does not have a pistol grip, having the FF to send the nozzle back up and stand on the hoseline "bight" and hug both hoses, this gives the firefighters upstairs two seperate hauling points. The handcuff knot is another we teach for reduced profile or unconscious victim without having to build or apply a rescue harness.

Granted none of the hose techniques are "attached" to the brother as with your webbing/beaner technique. Which is a great method for positive attachment as long as you have time to communicate and coordinate the webbing within the insult. In my next class, I may have them try this technique with the basement brother being blindfolded and see how long it takes to find/attach the webbing.

TCSS
FETC

Comment by DALE G. PEKEL on August 12, 2009 at 1:54pm: Thanks brother - In regard to using the scba as a harness; we leave it up to the team's discretion. In the second half of the video - PART 2 (when I get it uploaded) we show an alternate extraction technique if the scba can't or shouldn't be used as a harness. We use the ropes in the kit to fasten a harness around the victim - Works pretty slick. We can also tie a full body harness around the victim using an 8 or 9 foot webbing loop (All of our FFs carries this loop) and attach the carabiners to the webbing. (This technique isn't shown in the video, but we may post it later). MSA's FireHawk M7 scba has a central attachment point/hole in the top of the harness/backplate specifically for rescue. To my understanding it’s rated at 1,000lbs, but the straps will always be the weak link - Especially if their worn or weakened by age or heat. I haven't seen the YouTube video that you are referring to, but I have heard of failures – It’s a valid concern and thanks for bringing it up! If you still have the link to YouTube please forwarded to me – Having an actually video to share with others will definitely help to reinforce this potential danger.

Comment by FETC on August 12, 2009 at 1:06pm: Dale, good video training brother. I like that ladder and have not seen it in person before. Also any thought as to the manufacturers not recommending using the airpack as an extrication harness? There is a video on you tube of a RIT training, in which the straps failed at the attachment point of the backplate, luckily he was on a belay line and they were using mattresses below.