Protection: One word that can have many meanings. Rescue is inherently dangerous work, and we take many measures to protect ourselves and the equipment we use. We also go the extra distance to protect the property that we are using. Afterall, that’s part of our mission to protect life and property right. Let’s start by address personal protection. As rescuers, we take great strides to ensure our personal safety. We don proper protective equipment for the hazard in which we are preparing to facilitate a rescue. So, in the structure fire world, we wear structural rated turnout gear. When we go to a water rescue, we wear the appropriate water rescue gear. When it comes to rope rescue, our duty uniform with the addition of harness, helmet, and gloves will usually provide us with adequate protection.
So, we have ourselves protected, how about our rope gear? One of our duties is to make certain that our equipment is in a state of readiness. There are some great options for how we store our gear. From fancy bags to simple toolboxes. Whatever works for you to have your items ready to be deployed is the best option that you have chosen for the area that you serve. Bottom line is that you have chosen a method to protect your gear so that it is in a state of ready. Gear should be easy to find and access. Some departments go as far as to have certain systems pre-rigged to ensure accuracy of the rigging and that it can be rapidly deployed.
Once we start to set up for that training evolution or rescue scenario, what steps are we now taking to protect our equipment? Many departments use a trap or mat at the rigging staging area to get all the gear to one cache spot. This is a great option especially if you have multiple vehicles or agencies responding and arriving with equipment. Once it has been brought to a common area, it makes seeing what gear is available to help determine what rigging options you have. Over my career, I have seen people do an excellent job of getting edge protection into play when it came to doing high angle rescue. The downside is that in that same amount of time, I have seen too often a complete lack of edge protection when it came to the low angle rescue scene. Is it complacency or is it just oversight? Our minds should not shift to having a disregard for edges on the low angles. Left to run on the ground, a rope can quickly start to dig it’s way through the soil. That soil that ends up on the rope then ends up in your pulleys, descenders, and any other gear in that system. But it is what is under the soil that concerns me. Here is Western PA, we have large amounts of shale rock. This rock and be sharp and easily cause havoc on your rope. There are many other concerns with things under the soil that we can not see such as broken glass, metal pieces, etc. All of which can lead to a bad day. There are lots of options out there for padding those contact points even on the low angle rescue. From tarps to pads, old sections of fire hose, commercial rollers, etc. The list could go on and on for viable options. Bottom line here is we need to recognize the hazard and take steps to minimize potential risk. AKA Protection.
The last protection topic that we will pull the grenade pin on is legal protection. Without diving too deep into this one, we must take steps to make sure that we protect ourselves from possible legal problems. There are plenty of ways that we can do that. Proper training, proper equipment, to good documentation of your incident are all examples. Documentation of your equipment is critical as well. Inspection reports are a vital element and include your rope logs. For further legal protection discussion, we recommend that you and your department have a talk to see what you can do to minimize your potential negative litigation possibilities.