Rescue Rope

Looking into getting new rescue rope for my vol. fire dept. Looking for suggestions on brands, types (static or dynamic), lengths? We don't really preform a lot of rope rescues, but we do have some steep terrian, and we have the Mississippi River running through our fire district. We have Ice rescue suits that we train with and we deal with some swift water rescue training. Anyone I ask at the fire house doesn't know when we purchased our current rope and I was going to do some research on getting all new stuff. When I searched it online the results are overwhelming. Any help is appriciated. Thanks everyone.

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Permalink Reply by Rescue 2 Training on April 25, 2011 at 10:39am

Now this response I agree with. It is almost the opposite of what you said in your last post though about EVERY piece of equipment being labeled with a 1983 stamp.

I do agree that you need to assess your needs and pick what works for you even if it does not meet the NFPA requirements. NFPA 1983 mentions this in section 1.3.2

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Permalink Reply by Karsten Nelson on April 25, 2011 at 5:35pm

WOW!!! Lots of opinions on this one. What I would tell you Mark is that our department has a variety of rope from several manufacturers, and each has a function that is unique. We use nylon static kernmantle with a low pic count, and polyester static kernmantle with a high pic count. Then ther is the polypropelene rescue rope for water rescue, and so on. We base our choices of rope on the requirments that we have defined based on experience. Where we have had little or no experience we have relied on the opinions of other departments that have had the experience. If you are going to jump into NFPA for guidance, I would suggest reviewing 1670 and 1006 so you know what is required of the rescuer and the department for maintaining competence. An understanding of these sections will not provide you a magic answer, but they will help you in making sense of the complexities of your original question. Not to be dismissed is the reoccuring theme I read from others, get some formal training. In my paid-on-call department, and my full-time department we send people to get the training and then have them come back and pass on what they have learned. In these economic times it is what works for us. If I could I would send everyone to formal training, just for continuity. Good luck.

Karsten

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on April 26, 2011 at 6:54pm

For those in Australia, AS4142.3 is the Australian Standard for rescue rope.

It specifies kernmantle construction, 11mm as the minimum diameter, low stretch and a breaking force of not less than 3000kg.