RAPPELLING STOPPING THE FALL Article by Christopher Feder (Reproduced with Permission) INSIDE 2017 CHAINSAW CUTS CALENDAR DATES

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1 RAPPELLING STOPPING THE FALL Article by Christopher Feder (Reproduced with Permission) INSIDE 2017 CALENDAR DATES CHAINSAW CUTS Rope Rescue Water Rescue Ice Rescue USAR / HUSAR Confined Space First Aid & CPR Tactical Medicine TCCC / TECC And Much More! 1

2 Rappelling: Stopping the Fall Police of icers are dying in rappel training because tactical teams are not taking the proper precautions to prevent such tragedies. ARTICLE BY Christopher Feder In February 2009, the National Tactical Of icers Association (NTOA) published an update of its Police Training Fatality Report. The update was broken down into different sections with one of the sections covering training fatalities by fall/ trauma. Four of these fall/trauma accidents involved rappelling or rope rescue training. After reviewing the NTOA report, I decided to do some additional research and analysis to gain more information into the circumstances surrounding these fatalities and see if I could ind more examples of these tragedies. My research revealed seven additional training fatalities involving rope rescue or tactical rappelling training involving law enforcement of icers, ire ighters, and military personnel. I contacted the investigating authorities for each of these 11 fatal accidents to get copies of the reports. In most cases I was able to get copies of the fatality report through professional cooperation from the respective agency. In other cases I had to write and request copies of the reports through public record request or under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Nonetheless, by February of this year, I had copies of the reports from 10 of the 11 incidents. The eleventh incident was still under investigation as of March. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the U.S. federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations to prevent worker injury and illness. The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program conduct s independent investigations of select ire ighter line-of-duty deaths. Following the same direction and process of the NIOSH program, I started to research and review each case by reading each investigation and medical examiner's report. I also reviewed the photos and video that was provided with some of the reports. My goal was to ind out what led to these tragedies and to ind ways to prevent them. Overall, these incidents occurred while each respective team was rappelling for traditional SWAT/rescue training in preparation for a public relations demonstration or for some type of team 2 assessment/team tryout. Here s some lessons learned from these tragedies. Safety Lapses Picture: Vectorstockphoto.com The irst trait that is consistent with all the case studies is safety lapses. In each incident the training lacked one or more of the following: A designated safety of icer. In some cases there was a safety of icer, but that person was never clearly identi ied. A safety brie ing before the training evolutions. Though brie ings did occur in some of the cases, not all of them addressed safety. A quali ied instructor to oversee each rappel operation from the rappel point. A quali ied instructor is a certi ied rappel master, rope rescue instructor, or someone who has been authorized by his or her agency to supervise

3 Rappelling: Stopping the Fall rappel operations. During many of these incidents, a quali ied instructor was on hand to oversee the rappel, but in some cases, the quali ied instructor was not monitoring the rappelling atop the departure point. A primary and/or secondary safety check of the systems and system components as well as the equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by the person rappelling. Poor Training In most of the accidents that I researched the person who was killed lacked proper training in rappelling or a speci ic technique involved in the exercise. Additionally, the rappel instructor was not quali ied to supervise these techniques. A few of the cases had the trainees rappel Australian style using a Swiss seat, a type of harness commonly used in the military. The Swiss seat is nothing more than a section of rope tied around the waist, thighs, and buttocks. A carabiner ( D ring) is then connected to the front section of rope that is wrapped around the user s waist. A rappeller can, in fact, rappel Australian style safely using a Swiss Seat, but the rappeller must have proper training. The indings on some of these cases involving a Swiss Seat clearly identi ied lack of training in Australian style as well as lack of training in emergency procedures. There was a bottom belay person in these few cases. The bottom belay person s responsibility is to physically pull the rope, which puts pressure on the descent control device, ultimately creating friction, thus forcing the person from moving. This technique is ineffective if the system is not rigged properly. It s also ineffective if the person rappelling is moving too fast for human interaction to engage or if he or she is rappelling from a short distance to the ground and the belay person is not paying attention. 3 That s what happened in one case that I examined. The rappeller had rigged the rope around the carabiner, which was the irst failure point. The carabiner was not rigged properly and the of icer fell to the ground. Communications Failures Communications was also an integral factor in these incidents. A main inding regarding communications was the failure to effectively communicate with the team members on the training evolutions. This breakdown included not properly educating the team members of the training goals and objectives. Other communication failures included lack of proper communication with the chain of command as to the type of training that was being executed. In one particular case, the chain of command was told that the training would cover certain aspects, but the actual training Continued on Page5

4 Fire Service Instructor I NFPA 1041 Mon 29 Feb to Fri 4 Mar Pleasure Craft Operator Certification PCOC (Ont.) Sun 20 March Hazardous Materials NFPA Operations Weds 27 to Sat 30 April Wilderness SAR NFPA 1670 Awareness Tues 3 May Recon Rope Rappel L2 & Backcountry Rope Weds 29 June Working at Heights Cert Ministry of Labour - Ont. Fri 19 August CONTINUED BACK PAGE 4 4

5 Choosing your Chainsaw Cuts Using the weight and stress points to help you cut Chainsaw - Compression and Tension Cuts Before any mber is cut an assessment should be made to iden fy the compression and tension forces. The compression cut MUST be the first cut with the tension cut being the last. This prevents the saw from ge ng trapped. The next two diagrams show the cuts made for a cross-cut but the forces are different in both circumstances. REMEMBER the compression cut is the first cut. Chainsaw Techniques Many buildings are constructed u lising mber. A chainsaw is a vital tool that assists with breaching through a mber construc on. Making entry through mber sheet wall, floor or roof. This diagram shows the technique used when cu ng through sheet mber. A core hole is made to assess the situa on. Cuts are made leaving tabs on either side. The cut sec on is then twisted causing the tabs to break and the sec on is li ed away. 5 5

6 Continued from Page 3 was different and not consistent with the plan or with departmental policy. Other communications breakdowns revealed by my research included failure to conduct brie ings and assign roles and responsibilities. Some people stated in their witness statements there was no clear identi ication of the trainers and participants roles or their responsibilities. In one military rappelling demonstration involving a helicopter, the ropes were to be cut at the end of the exercise. The rappel had been practiced prior to the day leading up to the incident. Though much of the report from the military was redacted for security purposes, the cause and determination were still able to be interpreted from reading the interviews. Following the rappel demonstration, the ropes were cut by two different people in the helicopter; one of the cutters was the rappel master. Postincident analysis revealed that there was no communications before, during, or after the rappel as to who was going to cut which ropes. Cutting the ropes was never practiced in training, only discussed. The interviews also revealed that neither of the people cutting the ropes had ever discussed what they were going to do before they cut them. Sadly, no one ever looked out of the helicopter to verify if this rappeller had, in fact, made it to the ground safely. The person rappelling was hung up because the rappelling rope became tangled on the skid, and by the time the rope was cut, it was too late. Equipment Issues Some fatal rappelling accidents involved equipment failure; others involved improper use of equipment. It should be noted that in only one of the incidents I researched the rope separated. The rope separation was due to number of factors: The team was using the wrong type of rope for the rappel training. The person rappelling was doing so with a second individual on the same line. The rope was not rated for the weight. The rope was run across a railing system atop the rappelling tower. As the rappellers were descending, the rope moved left and right until it became caught on a sharp object. The separation was due to the sharp object cutting the rope. Another signi icant case involved a department that felt helmets were not needed during a particular training evolution. The of icers all had NIJ-certi ied threat level III ballistic helmets. According to someone from the team leadership, these helmets were not recommended for use for rappelling due to their weight. It was believed by this team leader that the sudden stop during the rappel could snap your neck. This would prove to be a fatal decision. In this particular case, the of icial report from the of ice of the medical examiner stated that the cause of death was blunt force head trauma due to fall. The department had purchased helmets to use for rappelling, but when they came in they were too small. This incident illustrates the need for wearing proper PPE. Inattention One of the signi icant indings that has its own category is a phenomenon called inattentional blindness. One of the case studies explained this in detail: Inattentional blindness is the looked-but-failed-tosee effect. It occurs when attention is focused on one aspect of a scene and overlooks an object that is prominent in the visual ield and is well above sensory threshold, 6 Jim Saveland and Ivan Pupulidy wrote in Rappel Accident-Human Performance Analysis. I equate the inattentional blindness phenomenon to looking for your car keys all over the house and then noticing them right where you looked the irst time. Inattentional blindness is something that can be addressed through training, diligence, and redundancy. The purpose of having redundancy is that it hopefully provides a series of levels of checks and balances to ensure the health and safety of the trainees. Of icers should be encouraged to ask questions and learn. Good instructors will see this as a tool to teach and mentor and shouldn t get offended because someone is asking questions or doublechecking their work. Having a second quali ied person check and doublecheck equipment also provides multiple layers of these needed checks and balances. Periodically inspecting equipment and communicating with people are also good avenues to pursue. And it s very important to clearly communicate to the participants whether the rappelling evolution is training or a drill. One of Merriam- Webster s de initions of training is a process by which someone is taught the skills that are needed for an art, profession, or job. One of the de initions of drill states to ix something in the mind or habit pattern of by repetitive instruction. When departments are conducting rappelling or any other type of training or drill, it

7 is paramount to identify if it is training or a drill. This will aid with the risk assessment of the evolutions and guide you in the necessary direction. If you re drilling, ideally you have people who are trained and pro icient in their tasks. If you re training, you may have people who have never done that task before and need to start from the ground up. Identify participants skill levels to determine where in the training or drill you are going to put them. When an of icer dies in a training accident, it is incumbent upon us to do our research before we train or drill. My review of these rappelling fatalities reveals some of the contributing factors in these cases. They include inadequate skills training for the instructors and individuals, failure to implement a risk assessment and hazard analysis, poor supervision of individuals due to lack of quali ied instructors, a breakdown in communications between the instructors and students, and a failure to follow safety procedures, manufacturer guidelines, or good industry practices. Rappelling is a very effective skill to have, and I believe that a good law enforcement tactical team should have the ability to rappel. A well-trained team can use rappelling for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, introduction of less-thanlethal, hostage rescue, to gain stealthy access, and to prevent jump suicides. But perhaps the most important bene it of rappelling exercises for tactical teams is team building. Rappelling is a perishable skill, so training is paramount. The rappelling risk can be minimized by simply following updated procedures, utilizing proper equipment, performing a risk assessment, and most importantly, having trained and quali ied people. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chris Feder Army Veteran, has more than 20 years of experience in SOME DIMERSAR CLIENTS Christopher Feder Used with Permission emergency services, including eight years with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He served on a regional SORT team for ive years. Feder is a rappel master and a technical rope rescue instructor and has written numerous articles relating to rope rescue. He is the rescue training coordinator for the Montgomery County (Pa.) Fire Academy. 7

8 SUMMARY RESCUE & MEDICAL COURSES 2017 High Angle Rope Rescue Awareness A: Apr B: July 15,16 C: Sep. 16, 17 Operations A: Mar. 4, 5 B: June 3, 4 C: Aug. 12, 13 D: Oct. 21, 22 Tech A: Mar. 11, 12 B: July 29, 30 C: Oct. 28, 29 Trainer A: Jan B: June 5-9 C: Aug D: Nov Complete A: Mar B: May1-5 C: June D: Aug E: Nov F: Dec Swift Water Rescue Aware A: Apr. 8, 9 B: May 6, 7 C: Sep. 9, 10 Ops A: Apr. 8, 9 B: May 13,14 C:July 8, 9 D: Sep. 9, 10 Tech A: Apr. 29, 30 B: June 17, 18 C: July 22, 23 D: Sep. 16, 17 Trainer A: May 8-12 B: Aug. 28-Sep.1 Motorised Rescue Boat A: May 3 to 5 B: July 10 to 12 Ice Rescue Ops A: Jan. 7, 8 B: Feb. 4, 5 Tech A: Jan. 14, 15 B: Feb. 11, 12 Trainer A: Feb B: P: E: info@dimersar.com Confined Space Rescue Ops Level: A June 3 & 4 Tech A: June 3, 4, 10, 11 B: Aug. 12, 13, 19, 20 C: Nov. 4, 5, 11, 12 MEDICAL TRAINING First Aid & CPR A: Aug 26 & 27 B: Nov 11 & 12 First Responder / EMR i) Sept 25 to 29 ii) Oct 2 to 6 W: Tactical Medicine (Prerequisites First Aid & CPR plus the level before.) Level I (Care Under Fire) A: July 5 (Intensive) B: Sept 12 (Intensive) Level II (Tactical Field Care) A: November 18, & 19 (TBC) in Hospital Setting Level III ( Tactical Evac care) A: December 4 (Intensive) USAR (Urban SAR) / Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue Responder Level / Recerts: A: August 8 & 9 B: October 25 & 26 INSARAG & NFPA CSSR / USAR Urban Search & Rescue Session: Wed 27 Sept Mountain Bike Search and Rescue Level 3 Ops: A: June 10 & 11 Level 4 Instructor A: June 9, 10 & 11 Fire Service Instructor I NFPA 1041 Mon 29 Feb to Fri 4 Mar Details, prices, location etc. please check out or DIMERSAR@gmail.com Follow: 8