The Team broke out the rope rescue equipment for August’s practical training. The scenario for this event was a general aviation incident off of Kings Canyon Road with one fatality. The subject was located above the hike-in access point so that the Team had to anchor below and to one side of the subject’s location, run the ropes to a change of direction above the subject, then back down the hill to the Litter Team located about 100’ or so from the anchor and the Haul/Lower Team.

This rigging set up allows for personnel below the work area to be well clear of rocks and debris that may come down the hill and limits the work effort above the subject.

As always, CCFD let us borrow Rescue Randy to add some realism and weight to the litter as we hauled and lowered our subject. We also borrowed a MPD (we are going to purchase a second one Cap.), so that the Rescue and Belay ropes could be run as a “mirrored system” and share the load. This allowed for the Team to set up identical 3:1 mechanical advantage haul systems giving a 6:1 total with considerably fewer resets than would be required with a single 5:1 or a compound mechanical advantage rig.

It was a warm day and a little smokey, but it ended up being one of the clearer days of the week by far…lucky timing. As always it was a great refresher for most of the Team with a couple first timers in the group. Our certified rope rescue technicians did a great job overseeing, setting up, and providing final safety checks with all the other members pitching in with knots, rigging, and the ability to stop the evolution for safety considerations.