Four Days of Aerial Rescue

Jeff Darby · 9th November 2008, 11:51 AM

Hi Folks,
These pictures are of various rescue scenario's, Once the climber is in position an emergency is called, time is noted , The tree is quickly assessed if it's safe to climb to retrieve the unconcious climber, The rescue climber is asked if he's capable of the rescue, ambulance called and told acurate directions to get to the accident site,while this is being sorted out by ground crew the climber is rigging up all the gear he needs to sucessfully retrieve the unconsious climber, upon reaching the unconsious climber you feel for a pulse...you might have to perform cpr in the tree!..if you suspect spinal injury you might have to keep him as comfortable as you can while waiting for a lift to retrive the climber? In this scenario the climber is unconsious still breathing with no suspected spinal injury. This rescue is for a two man crew when the rescue climber actually lowers the unconsious climber to the ground using a gri gri mounted above them,the rescue climber transfers the injured climber to this system while aloft and climbs back up to the gri gri to lower him to the ground once on the ground he is place against the bottom of the tree with his kness against his chest. We are practising in these scenario's so time is not an issue here, even though we take note of it, it is a gauge to your improvement in safe fast technique. I will be adding more pictures as we progress through the four days.
John is the unconsious climber, Jason is the rescue climber.

TrevMcRev · 9th November 2008, 12:51 PM

I commend you guys on putting your own time & effort into practising this.

Doing it once in a course is one thing, regular practice will make it as close to second nature as possible given the distress should you have to employ it in a real life emergency situation.

Well done "D's"

newguy18 · 9th November 2008, 01:12 PM

John looks kinda helpless hanging there,can we say pin`ta?

TreeDimensional · 9th November 2008, 01:16 PM

Good on you John, every time we practice, Marlene has to run to the tallest hill and hope she can get cell phone coverage. All joking aside, Trev hit the nail on the head. Practice will increase the likelihood of a Successful rescue. Again it is equally important to have SOP for a variety of tree jobs, Stay as fit as possible, and know your limits, whether it be physical OR skill.

The best way to prevent a rescue is to NOT do things that will put the climber or the crew in harms way. If you asked 10 climber how to work a tree, you would get 10 different opinions. Chances are that the more experienced guys will take risk the newbies won't. I would also bet that in this scenario, they would be about equal in taking risk.

Just my $.02 worth! I MAY be wrong.

Sean Freeman · 9th November 2008, 01:55 PM

Ha ha, in the first pic John looks dead...cut him from the tree and descend gently yourself

Kidding....i agree with what has been said having a practise drill every month or whenever it can be fitted in is a great plan.

You might combine it with practising more difficult work positioning too, using redirects, practising how you would deal with losing some of your essential climbing gear whilst in the tree, but makingit enjoyable is the key (as is setting the time aside to do it!)

When I did my aerial rescue with Adam Tom he had us getting up and down with a whole range of different scenarios including the dreaded rope harness you had to fashion yourself OUCH

...forced you to come up with solutions to tricky situations though.

newguy18 · 9th November 2008, 04:00 PM

oh man,i actually spent a day climbing in a rope harness,you know,make a bowline on a bight,leave a long tail to go around your lower back and to tie the friction hitch.

Crude,very painful but effective and probabley fool proof,assuming the fool can tie the knots properley.

Jeff Darby · 15th November 2008, 07:18 PM

Well here we are again with another scenario, The climber(Sam) was busy blocking down the trunk when he severly pulls a muscle in his shoulder leaving him helpless and in agony on the trunk.

John climbs up to access the injured climber and to set up the recue rig and change the climber to the lowering system, The system is loaded up with the injured climber's wieght to make sure it is capable of supporting him, he is lifted sligthly to remove his gaff's from the trunk, then he is disconected from his pole belt, and the ground crew take over and lower him to the ground

The ground crew grab the injuredclimber's pole belt to guide his decent to
the ground as soon as it come into their reach

As soon as the injured climber is on the ground he is sat up against the tree in the recovery position and his injury attended to

Again in this scenario a gri gri is used to lower the injured climber to the ground, noticed the redirected lowering line this can be if needed, can be quickly changed to a Z haul lowering or lifting system if needed.

Garry Brockley · 15th November 2008, 09:07 PM

Excellent work guys practice makes perfect, i commend you on taking the time to practice these techniques and sharing them with us

newguy18 · 16th November 2008, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayD

Well here we are again with another scenario, The climber(Sam) was busy blocking down the trunk when he severly pulls a muscle in his shoulder leaving him helpless and in agony on the trunk.

John climbs up to access the injured climber and to set up the recue rig and change the climber to the lowering system, The system is loaded up with the injured climber's wieght to make sure it is capable of supporting him, he is lifted sligthly to remove his gaff's from the trunk, then he is disconected from his pole belt, and the ground crew take over and lower him to the ground

The ground crew grab the injuredclimber's pole belt to guide his decent to
the ground as soon as it come into their reach

As soon as the injured climber is on the ground he is sat up against the tree in the recovery position and his injury attended to

Again in this scenario a gri gri is used to lower the injured climber to the ground, noticed the redirected lowering line this can be if needed, can be quickly changed to a Z haul lowering or lifting system if needed.

even simpler way of lowerig the victim,set up a lowering block and a porty and lower him down.

Jeff Darby · 16th November 2008, 07:37 AM

LOL..Bill, are you still using lowes rope for climbing?

All techniques used in these scenario's are tried and proven method's of rescue, NO HIT AND MISS, nothing left to the unknown except how your crew is really going to react when the time for a life or death rescue is upon them! then it's to late if they have never practiced rescue they will more than likely run around all confused under the pressure of the pending rescue loosing valuable rescue time, T minus 13 mins for suspension trauma, less if your climber is bleeding profusly!

This is why these scenario's are practiced, that is why your recue gear is sitting in a bag marked "Rescue Gear Only" waiting for the time it's needed! it's all in one place ready to go.

That's why you need to set aside time to practice rescue scenario's so your crew is ready to go as soon as some one calls RESCUE, climber unconcious,or worse, climber bleeding out.

Because we practice these scenario's we also uncover weeknesses in our selves to, which give us time to address before the moment of truth is upon you!

Practice makes as close to perfect as your going to get in these emergency situations.

JohN Dee · 16th November 2008, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newguy18

even simpler way of lowerig the victim,set up a lowering block and a porty and lower him down.

That's always a possibility Bill, but if he should become jammed again there would be no way to lift him up.

Before I actually got up, I requested a polesaw so I could cut his straps off him and get him down fast

teach him to use a pole belt

newguy18 · 16th November 2008, 10:23 AM

hmm seriously,if i dislocated my shoulder while blocking,i'm assuming i have use of my other arm,having dislocated my shoulder once already i nkow it hurts so being the macho tough guy i am,i'd just spurr down or if there were any stubs present set my life line around the trunk on the stubs and zip my self down.Any other time i'm screwed as noone can come get me.

JohN Dee · 17th November 2008, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newguy18

hmm seriously,if i dislocated my shoulder while blocking,i'm assuming i have use of my other arm,having dislocated my shoulder once already i nkow it hurts so being the macho tough guy i am,i'd just spurr down or if there were any stubs present set my life line around the trunk on the stubs and zip my self down.Any other time i'm screwed as noone can come get me.

Bill =

= John =

Bill this was a 1 year dead she oak. Bark peeling... Hard as all buggery to gaff into. In this situation you'd probably slip and either take a face slide down or pin yourself against the trunk. Oh and I'd imagine it would be pretty hard trying to lean forward with one arm with out hurting the other arm more to be able to descend down on a pole belt n gaffs.

newguy18 · 17th November 2008, 06:41 AM

You forget,i feel at the junkyard,got a green stick fracture in my left arm and did a take down the next day.Ten again stupid shit like that is why i'm probably a wreck.

JohN Dee · 17th November 2008, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newguy18

You forget,i feel at the junkyard,got a green stick fracture in my left arm and did a take down the next day.Ten again stupid shit like that is why i'm probably a wreck.

Probably. It's learning from our mistakes that makes us all smarter.

No doubt if I was injured and the work was there and I HAD to do it, I would to the best of my capabilities at the time. But when I DON'T have to work, it is simply a matter of letting my body recover.

Cole · 23rd December 2009, 12:10 PM

when working for australian arboriculture training and contracting we taught climbing and ariel rescue for CATT (close approach tree trimming) with hunter tafe we were doing something like 50+ mock resues every week, has anyone ever done training with north american training solutions, ive done a few with scott prophett and ed carpenter of there high angle rescue and technical rescue workshops, found them very very good, in australia ive also done some work with richie kenyon and ged renoylds, now days i use this system and try to pass it on to as many people as possible it does involve a little more gear setting up etc but well worth it. if the situation allowes of course, sorry about the tree pic....you ever tried to draw one with a laptop half pissed going down the mountains,

FlashD · 23rd December 2009, 01:32 PM

Looks like a pretty slick system to me.

stirmantrees · 23rd December 2009, 03:40 PM

cole that is hilarious. good system and ....if you can save him with it you would be a rich man right now.
hilarious. last thing i expected to upload

Eric Frei · 23rd December 2009, 05:36 PM

Cole, somewhere we had a discussion I'm sure that if you had the rigging gear in the tree already and the climber got knocked out etc you'd put him on that and lower him providing no obstacles, just dont put a tag line around his neck.

Thing is, what gets him down safely and quickly.

Cole · 23rd December 2009, 07:25 PM

hahah thanks fellas, ekka i normally access with SRT so my line is already set, there is a petzl ID or SRTE no worries as a belay at the bottom of the tree, get a groundsmen to hold the tail of the climbers rope to steady him, you can also if you want do a couple of wraps around both his feet with the tail of his rope for better control of your patient. etc, and then lower him from the device. picture this you have cut you arm bleeding like a mofo you hold you shirt etc etc over the cut.... how do you lower yourself without taking your hand off the cut, be in control of the descent considering the current situation at hand also. im hopefully going to do a few mock rescues over the holidays and video tape with helmet cam ground cam and tree cam, if its one thing we take pride in its or rescues many many a night spent playing in sheds swinging around has helped us evolve techniques in this.

stirmantrees · 24th December 2009, 02:59 AM

srt may provide an interesting angle.
glad you think through it.
i need to think through what i would do if there was only a a srt in place.

Jeff Darby · 24th December 2009, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole

has anyone ever done training with north american training solutions, ive done a few with scott prophett and ed carpenter of there high angle rescue and technical rescue workshops, found them very very good.

Yes I have at vermeer at smithfield this year, it was an interesting day watching their various methods of rescue, and keeping their audience actively involved by rotating seating positions and interactions.

However if the call went out injured climber to those who have only been to their seminars, just sitting there watching the senarios, who out of the forty or so people would actualy remember enought to efectively undertake a rescue?..Ed carpenter said himself on the day it takes 22 times to set hands on information into your muslce memory.

Please dont take this as a shot at these blokes, just pointing out my thoughts.

Cole · 24th December 2009, 02:44 PM

depends on how serious you are about climbing i guess jay. your level of skill and how much gear you have. you have your guys english prussic one rope couple of biners and some spikes, then you have some guys with heaps of gear and all sorts of stuff, then you have guys like us if its out there we've got one had one lost one and or broken one. i live and breathe for new tricks techniques and the latest in new gear ropes mechanical stuff etc etc. we spent a week with them and came away with heaps of stuff

Fairfield · 30th January 2010, 06:03 AM

Im with you on this one Cole, My full time job is for a rescue squad but I live, breath and eat climbing. My company has a rescue randy that weighs about 180 lbs. I bring that home and practice rescues in the trees all the time. I dont think I will ever be contant on how I rescue at height. I will always be pushing for a better smoother way of doing it.

sean murphy · 14th June 2011, 10:18 PM

my name is sean murphy and i am in my arborist 2 course in wollongbar and want to know when and where someone else might be doing this rescue course. i am in lismore and would be keen on learning more climbing tecniques as well as rescue. p.s also a job thanks. 0411 284 249

9th November 2008, 11:51 AM	#1
Jeff Darby Moderator - Previously known as JayD Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: TreeWorld, Sydney Australia Posts: 2,029	Four Days of Aerial Rescue Hi Folks, These pictures are of various rescue scenario's, Once the climber is in position an emergency is called, time is noted , The tree is quickly assessed if it's safe to climb to retrieve the unconcious climber, The rescue climber is asked if he's capable of the rescue, ambulance called and told acurate directions to get to the accident site,while this is being sorted out by ground crew the climber is rigging up all the gear he needs to sucessfully retrieve the unconsious climber, upon reaching the unconsious climber you feel for a pulse...you might have to perform cpr in the tree!..if you suspect spinal injury you might have to keep him as comfortable as you can while waiting for a lift to retrive the climber? In this scenario the climber is unconsious still breathing with no suspected spinal injury. This rescue is for a two man crew when the rescue climber actually lowers the unconsious climber to the ground using a gri gri mounted above them,the rescue climber transfers the injured climber to this system while aloft and climbs back up to the gri gri to lower him to the ground once on the ground he is place against the bottom of the tree with his kness against his chest. We are practising in these scenario's so time is not an issue here, even though we take note of it, it is a gauge to your improvement in safe fast technique. I will be adding more pictures as we progress through the four days. John is the unconsious climber, Jason is the rescue climber. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Member: Australian Tree Association Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard ! Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others © Jeffrey J Darby 2011

9th November 2008, 12:51 PM	#2
TrevMcRev Mature Tree Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Posts: 1,605	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue I commend you guys on putting your own time & effort into practising this. Doing it once in a course is one thing, regular practice will make it as close to second nature as possible given the distress should you have to employ it in a real life emergency situation. Well done "D's"

9th November 2008, 01:12 PM	#3
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 4,977	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue John looks kinda helpless hanging there,can we say pin`ta? __________________ Have your say join us today. old schooler

9th November 2008, 01:16 PM	#4
TreeDimensional Mature Tree Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 426	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Good on you John, every time we practice, Marlene has to run to the tallest hill and hope she can get cell phone coverage. All joking aside, Trev hit the nail on the head. Practice will increase the likelihood of a Successful rescue. Again it is equally important to have SOP for a variety of tree jobs, Stay as fit as possible, and know your limits, whether it be physical OR skill. The best way to prevent a rescue is to NOT do things that will put the climber or the crew in harms way. If you asked 10 climber how to work a tree, you would get 10 different opinions. Chances are that the more experienced guys will take risk the newbies won't. I would also bet that in this scenario, they would be about equal in taking risk. Just my $.02 worth! I MAY be wrong.

9th November 2008, 01:55 PM	#5
Sean Freeman Monument Status Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,985	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Ha ha, in the first pic John looks dead...cut him from the tree and descend gently yourself Kidding....i agree with what has been said having a practise drill every month or whenever it can be fitted in is a great plan. You might combine it with practising more difficult work positioning too, using redirects, practising how you would deal with losing some of your essential climbing gear whilst in the tree, but makingit enjoyable is the key (as is setting the time aside to do it!) When I did my aerial rescue with Adam Tom he had us getting up and down with a whole range of different scenarios including the dreaded rope harness you had to fashion yourself OUCH...forced you to come up with solutions to tricky situations though.

9th November 2008, 04:00 PM	#6
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 4,977	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue oh man,i actually spent a day climbing in a rope harness,you know,make a bowline on a bight,leave a long tail to go around your lower back and to tie the friction hitch.Crude,very painful but effective and probabley fool proof,assuming the fool can tie the knots properley. __________________ Have your say join us today. old schooler

15th November 2008, 07:18 PM	#7
Jeff Darby Moderator - Previously known as JayD Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: TreeWorld, Sydney Australia Posts: 2,029	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Well here we are again with another scenario, The climber(Sam) was busy blocking down the trunk when he severly pulls a muscle in his shoulder leaving him helpless and in agony on the trunk. John climbs up to access the injured climber and to set up the recue rig and change the climber to the lowering system, The system is loaded up with the injured climber's wieght to make sure it is capable of supporting him, he is lifted sligthly to remove his gaff's from the trunk, then he is disconected from his pole belt, and the ground crew take over and lower him to the ground The ground crew grab the injuredclimber's pole belt to guide his decent to the ground as soon as it come into their reach As soon as the injured climber is on the ground he is sat up against the tree in the recovery position and his injury attended to Again in this scenario a gri gri is used to lower the injured climber to the ground, noticed the redirected lowering line this can be if needed, can be quickly changed to a Z haul lowering or lifting system if needed. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Member: Australian Tree Association Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard ! Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others © Jeffrey J Darby 2011

15th November 2008, 09:07 PM	#8
Garry Brockley Bayside Tree Care Brisbane Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Brisbane Aus Posts: 1,649	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Excellent work guys practice makes perfect, i commend you on taking the time to practice these techniques and sharing them with us __________________ My business:- Brisbane Bayside Tree Care

16th November 2008, 07:37 AM	#10
Jeff Darby Moderator - Previously known as JayD Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: TreeWorld, Sydney Australia Posts: 2,029	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue LOL..Bill, are you still using lowes rope for climbing? All techniques used in these scenario's are tried and proven method's of rescue, NO HIT AND MISS, nothing left to the unknown except how your crew is really going to react when the time for a life or death rescue is upon them! then it's to late if they have never practiced rescue they will more than likely run around all confused under the pressure of the pending rescue loosing valuable rescue time, T minus 13 mins for suspension trauma, less if your climber is bleeding profusly! This is why these scenario's are practiced, that is why your recue gear is sitting in a bag marked "Rescue Gear Only" waiting for the time it's needed! it's all in one place ready to go. That's why you need to set aside time to practice rescue scenario's so your crew is ready to go as soon as some one calls RESCUE, climber unconcious,or worse, climber bleeding out. Because we practice these scenario's we also uncover weeknesses in our selves to, which give us time to address before the moment of truth is upon you! Practice makes as close to perfect as your going to get in these emergency situations. __________________ Member: Australian Tree Association Join the Australian Tree Association...Have your voice heard ! Arboriculture, A life long study for some, a passing phase for others © Jeffrey J Darby 2011

16th November 2008, 10:23 AM	#12
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 4,977	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue hmm seriously,if i dislocated my shoulder while blocking,i'm assuming i have use of my other arm,having dislocated my shoulder once already i nkow it hurts so being the macho tough guy i am,i'd just spurr down or if there were any stubs present set my life line around the trunk on the stubs and zip my self down.Any other time i'm screwed as noone can come get me. __________________ Have your say join us today. old schooler

17th November 2008, 06:41 AM	#14
newguy18 Part of the Furniture Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: orlando,fl Posts: 4,977	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue You forget,i feel at the junkyard,got a green stick fracture in my left arm and did a take down the next day.Ten again stupid shit like that is why i'm probably a wreck. __________________ Have your say join us today. old schooler

23rd December 2009, 12:10 PM	#16
Cole Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Canberra Posts: 215	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue when working for australian arboriculture training and contracting we taught climbing and ariel rescue for CATT (close approach tree trimming) with hunter tafe we were doing something like 50+ mock resues every week, has anyone ever done training with north american training solutions, ive done a few with scott prophett and ed carpenter of there high angle rescue and technical rescue workshops, found them very very good, in australia ive also done some work with richie kenyon and ged renoylds, now days i use this system and try to pass it on to as many people as possible it does involve a little more gear setting up etc but well worth it. if the situation allowes of course, sorry about the tree pic....you ever tried to draw one with a laptop half pissed going down the mountains, Attached Thumbnails

23rd December 2009, 01:32 PM	#17
FlashD Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Kansas Posts: 213	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Looks like a pretty slick system to me.

23rd December 2009, 03:40 PM	#18
stirmantrees Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: oviedo, fl Posts: 469	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue cole that is hilarious. good system and ....if you can save him with it you would be a rich man right now. hilarious. last thing i expected to upload

23rd December 2009, 05:36 PM	#19
Eric Frei Admin - Razor sharp and independent 2 X Diploma Level 5 qualified arborist Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 12,811	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Cole, somewhere we had a discussion I'm sure that if you had the rigging gear in the tree already and the climber got knocked out etc you'd put him on that and lower him providing no obstacles, just dont put a tag line around his neck. Thing is, what gets him down safely and quickly. __________________ Protect your rights to work - Join Australian Tree Association My businesses:- Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping \| Stump Grinding Brisbane \| Brisbane - Gold Coast Consulting Arborist

23rd December 2009, 07:25 PM	#20
Cole Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Canberra Posts: 215	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue hahah thanks fellas, ekka i normally access with SRT so my line is already set, there is a petzl ID or SRTE no worries as a belay at the bottom of the tree, get a groundsmen to hold the tail of the climbers rope to steady him, you can also if you want do a couple of wraps around both his feet with the tail of his rope for better control of your patient. etc, and then lower him from the device. picture this you have cut you arm bleeding like a mofo you hold you shirt etc etc over the cut.... how do you lower yourself without taking your hand off the cut, be in control of the descent considering the current situation at hand also. im hopefully going to do a few mock rescues over the holidays and video tape with helmet cam ground cam and tree cam, if its one thing we take pride in its or rescues many many a night spent playing in sheds swinging around has helped us evolve techniques in this.

24th December 2009, 02:59 AM	#21
stirmantrees Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: oviedo, fl Posts: 469	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue srt may provide an interesting angle. glad you think through it. i need to think through what i would do if there was only a a srt in place.

24th December 2009, 02:44 PM	#23
Cole Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Canberra Posts: 215	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue depends on how serious you are about climbing i guess jay. your level of skill and how much gear you have. you have your guys english prussic one rope couple of biners and some spikes, then you have some guys with heaps of gear and all sorts of stuff, then you have guys like us if its out there we've got one had one lost one and or broken one. i live and breathe for new tricks techniques and the latest in new gear ropes mechanical stuff etc etc. we spent a week with them and came away with heaps of stuff

30th January 2010, 06:03 AM	#24
Fairfield Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bucks county Pa USA Posts: 125	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue Im with you on this one Cole, My full time job is for a rescue squad but I live, breath and eat climbing. My company has a rescue randy that weighs about 180 lbs. I bring that home and practice rescues in the trees all the time. I dont think I will ever be contant on how I rescue at height. I will always be pushing for a better smoother way of doing it. __________________ Hi yes you know me I am B.A.M.F nice to meet you

14th June 2011, 10:18 PM	#25
sean murphy I'm new here so be nice Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: lismore Posts: 2	Re: Four Days of Aerial Rescue my name is sean murphy and i am in my arborist 2 course in wollongbar and want to know when and where someone else might be doing this rescue course. i am in lismore and would be keen on learning more climbing tecniques as well as rescue. p.s also a job thanks. 0411 284 249

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