Rope Rescue Equipment Source

By TOM HARRIS
KVUE News

Travis County STAR Flight crew members rescued two men from raging flood waters after they got a little too close to the Lampasas River. [SEE VIDEO]

It happened just after 10 a.m. Monday morning near the town of Adamsville.

The Lampasas Fire Department called STAR Flight and told them that they had two men trapped in the back of a pickup in rising flood waters and had no way to get to them. They needed a helicopter to help.

STAR Flight responded and plucked the men from the river.

"The first thing you do is look at them and make sure that they don't have any injuries," said STARFlight nurse Howard Polden. "In the case of these two gentleman neither one of them spoke any English. I don't speak any Spanish, so I just showed them what I was going to do and I kind of pointed and it worked out just fine."

Polden says it took just a few minutes to bring both victims up to the helicopter and to safety.

STAR FLight paramedic Stephen Maier says there is very little chance of anyone falling into the water. "The device frictions down on itself and prevents him from sliding out. Even if the victim lifts his arm, he can't slide out of the device," Maier said.

Texas leads the nation when it comes to flood-related deaths. Most of these occur in vehicles when people try to go through low water crossings. Polden says many deaths are preventable.

"The majority of these incidents are caused because people drive through barriers. They put themselves in situations in low water crossings, and that is unfortunately what these gentlemen did," Polden said.

This was the first STAR Flight air rescue of a flood victim this year.

http://rescue3international.com/tlt.php 

This course (TRR:TL) integrates the most current technology and research on rope rescue available. Technical Rope Rescue: Technician Level is a 5 day rope course designed to take students from basic over-the-bank rescues to progressively more vertical scenarios. Students will spend one day in the classroom and four days in the field learning and practicing techniques such as:

• preplanning and size-up of rope rescue operations
• scene management and organization
• knots, hitches, and anchor systems
• belaying, lowering and raising systems
• ascending and descending lines
• mechanical advantage systems
• patient packing & litter attending
• special problems and helicopter use
• tethers and highlines
  
  Upon completing this class, students will have met the requirements under NFPA 1670 for Rope Rescue Technicians.

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Hello Friends. Would you like to join us for a glacier travel, crevasse rescue, ice climbing, snow-camping session including a climb of Mount Baker (at 3285 metres, the most northerly volcano in the 48 contiguous United States) for a week during June or September? It is a good way for you to meet with some of our expedition leaders, including Daniel Mazur, and learn and hone your glacier travel and rescue and ice climbing skills. You can also test some of the equipment we use in the Himalaya too...

Ask lots of questions, then sign up for our glacier school: info@SummitClimb.com

Check the site out for dates and reservations: http://www.summitclimb.com