1 II-28 STOKES BASKET OPERATIONS Anchor Slings- (2) high strength nylon webbing straps with D-rings on both ends used to set an anchor. Max working load of 10,000 lbs. Bight- Element of knot formed by simply bending rope back on itself while keeping sides parallel. Brake Tube- Aluminum rope-friction device. Pulley System- Right for Technical Rescue Team, left for ladder truck. Rescue Rope- 200ft. x 5/8 in. yellow rope with blue tracer. For emergency rescue and classroom training only and will be tagged USED and turned into Supply after use. Sr. Captain is responsible for submitting a narrative to the TRT Office within 7 calendar days after use of rope. Do not use for field training purposes. Stokes Basket Bridle- Heart of the operation. A sling type device that attaches rescue rope to the basket Stokes Basket- Stainless steel basket with a half backboard (usually yellow in color). Stokes Basket Tender- An assigned TRT member that rides attached to the basket with the victim, to provide medical care. Stokes basket tender is for ladder truck use only, not towers. Landing Zone Unit- Members assigned to ladder truck. Will deliver rope bag to Turntable Unit and prepares and controls stokes basket. Turntable Unit- Company responsible for raising and lowering of the aerial. Will connect anchor slings and brake tube. Roof Top Unit- 1 st responders that make initial contact with victim on an above grade incident and assess best location for aerial placement. Pierce/Ferrara ladders that are assigned an E-One will leave ONLY the pulley system on regular assigned ladder and take rope bag/stokes basket to the reserve. Report to Supply to obtain an E-One pulley system. All aerial apparatus shall be operated on low idle for smooth movement and decreased noise. Firefighters will maintain control of the Stokes during raising and lowering by using two guide ropes attached to the basket. OEC will dispatch a TRT and the appropriate aerial apparatus on all stokes rescue calls. Only tapered backboards will be used for spinal immobilization due to the shape of the basket. Victims shall be secured to the basket with approved straps provided. Only HFD straps will be used and NO WEBBING.
2 If victim might aspirate or require CPR, the TRT will utilize their equipment and members to provide care for the victims during movement. Consider using a tower. Size-up will include patient condition and severity of injuries and subsequent order of removal. Consider that multiple patients in multiple locations might require either centering the turntable for objectives or more than one set-up. E-One, Pierce and Ferrara Ladder Truck: Locate ladder/tower as close to the building as possible to allow for maximum extension. Backing into position is the most desirable maneuver when spotting the ladder truck. E-One ladder is pinned at the third section (pin in rear position) so waterway and nozzle will not interfere with the rope. Extend ladder 5-6 rungs (approx. 15ft.) while ladder is still bedded. Ferrara ladder has an electric switch that indicates either Water Tower or Rescue located in the turntable control box. Select Rescue so waterway and nozzle will not interfere with the rope. Extend ladder until rungs align at the 50 ft. indicator. E-One pulley system will be pinned to the fly section at the 1 st and 2 nd rungs. Ferrara pulley system will be pinned at 1 st and 2 nd rungs of the WHITE fly section prior to the YELLOW replaceable tip. The rope should accompany the pulley system to the tip of the aerial. Pierce pulley system: 2 adjustable nylatron pulleys are mounted to a stainless steel shaft with an attached linch pin. Mounting brackets for the system are attached to the side aerial braces between 1 st and 2 nd rungs on the RED fly section tip. Pull the linch pin from shaft and insert shaft to mounting bracket beginning on the right hand side. Slide shaft to left into the left mounting bracket. Align holes for shaft and right mounting bracket, insert linch pin and close locking mechanism. There is a 2 position manual lever (forward or reverse) located atop the cab below the aerial before the red pulley mounting bracket that allows waterway to ride on the fly or third section of the aerial. Forward is for ladder pipe operations and Reverse is for rescue or fly section operations. Ensure its in Reverse
3 With the rope bag at the turntable, pull the rope from the bag up the middle of the ladder, place and pin the pulley system, and thread the end through the LEFT pulley, allowing rope to fall down until touching ground. (Right side of pulley for Rescue TRT). Place stokes on the ground at the end of the aerial with any equipment that may be required for the victim. Tie a Figure 8 on a Bight with an Overhand Safety Knot in the end of the rope. Place large auto-locking carabiner through the bight at the end of the rope. The Landing Zone Unit will attach the end of the rope to the O-ring on the Stokes bridle using the large auto-locking carabiner. The bridle O-ring should be parallel to the stokes before clipping the 4 self-locking snaps to the basket. There are 4 squares in the basket railing, 2 on each side, approximately 16 in. from the ends. Attach the self-locking snaps to the railing squares with the snap gates facing inward towards the basket. A 2 nd choice is to utilize the 4 carabiner eyelets if available on your basket. A new version of the bridle will have 2 short red straps (Head) and 2 long yellow straps (Feet) with 4 large auto-locking snaps that will connect to the stokes squares or carabiner eyelets. The new bridle allows patients head to ride slightly above their feet to ease anxiety of confinement. A Bowline on a Bight or Clove Hitch will be used to tie guide ropes on the ends of the basket then secured with an Overhand Safety Knot below and in contact with the knot. E-One and Pierce Ladder anchor slings will be around the K-brace Notch at the base of the aerial railing. Pass one D ring through ladder from outside to inside. Take outside D and pass it through the inside D ring (Girth). Ferrara anchor slings will be secured to the bed section of the top aerial railing at the 50 ft. indicator. D rings will be placed parallel (Basket) to each other after being secured to a support member of the bed section. The Turntable Unit will double check the slings for twists and kinks. Attach brake tube with 2 small carabiners. Spines of carabiners should be facing up and gates facing down. Rope should be above the sling system. Open brake tube and apply 3 wraps (back to front) of the rope around the tube and close finger tight. The three wraps consist of (2) ½ wraps and (1) full wrap. Always man the brake tube. Hold tube system about 1 ft. above aerial until entire system is raised under load. Raise ladder 3 ft. above the ground and stop to visualize the entire system. Apply weight to check knot and ropes. Double check slings and tube under load. Raise basket to desired location. Always check nozzle position before bedding the aerial.
4 As aerial extends, feed slack through the brake tube to allow basket to ride about 10 ft. under tip of ladder. When ladder is above desired location, retract and lower ladder until basket rests on location. If roof has a parapet, lower basket through brake tube. Roof Top Unit will remove one side of the bridle to make access for victim. After victim is secured, the Turntable Unit will add 2 more wraps (front to back) for a total of 5 wraps (2 half wraps, 3 full wraps). Pull 3 ft. of rope to form a bight and push bight through metal triangle that supports the tube carabiners towards your load. Tie an overhand safety towards the load at the front bar of the tube. The safety should bind the rope from the opposite side as the rope (Load) leaves the brake tube. When Roof Top Unit is ready to lower victim, the Turntable Unit will raise the basket approx. 3 ft. and stop. Sr. Captain will check anchor slings and tube tie-off. Roof Top will check knot and basket. Under direction of Roof Top, Turntable will raise ladder then rotate over landing zone. Always keep brake system suspended above aerial. Turntable then retracts fly until ladder is almost fully retracted, then lowers until basket is close to ground. Landing Zone personnel should guide basket to one side before going to the ground. Never work directly under the suspended aerial. Once patient is removed and aerial is close to ground, remove pulley system. Basket Operations for the E-One and Pierce Tower: Consider the placement of the basket cradles, which need to be closest to objective. Pierce cradles are at front of the platform and E-One tower cradles are on the Captain s side of the platform. Remove basket cradles from compartment and place and secure to platform with pins. Place basket in cradle and secure. Turntable Unit will elevate platform as directed by Roof Top. Roof Top will stabilize and secure victim in the basket and basket will be placed back in cradle and secured. Platform allows for 3 crewmembers (operator and 2 rescuers) and 1 critical care victim. Landing Zone Unit will remove basket from cradle on the platform.
5 Only above-grade rescues can be performed using this guideline. Below should request a Confined Space response. Required PPE at scene- helmet, eye protection and gloves. Ladder/Towers are not deployed in winds greater than 35 mph. Any metal hardware dropped over 3 feet will be removed and tagged Dropped. Field training equipment is marked with 2 yellow stripes and available from VJTF. Personnel in stations without a ladder/tower shall practice procedure every 6 months. At a station with a ladder/tower every 3 months. Never place a person or equipment in basket during training. Up to 4 rolls of 2 ½ are acceptable. (200 lbs.) Specs: 3 O-ring (25,000 lbs.) Bridle (6000 lbs.) Anchor sling (16,000 lbs.) 5/8 blue water rope (12,000 lbs.) Carabiners (10,000 lbs.) Tip load for ladders (750 lbs.) Tip load for towers (1000 lbs.) Tower outriggers need 20 ft. Ladder outriggers need 16 ft. Pierce ladder needs 12 ft.) Basket, bridle, rope and all hardware shall be inspected on 1 st apparatus day of the month and noted in Captain s Log. Do Not step on, mark or label bridle. There is yellow tag on rescue equipment that can be used to mark station number. Do not stamp letter the O-ring. Brake tube must be stored with gate closed All hardware should be stored in the rope bag. Some E-One pulleys have grease fittings. Use lithium-based grease, not chassis grease. Store bridle in mesh bag and place in stokes basket. Should not be stored where it will get wet. Never store bridle pre-connected or pre-tied. Should be checked every apparatus day.
6 Wash bridle with clean cool water and mild detergent. Do not place in hose dryer or oil snap locks. Landing Zone Unit: Begins at front of ladder truck and terminates when victim is delivered. Delivers basket, bridle and carabiner to the front of the truck and delivers rope bag and pulley to Turntable Unit. Turntable Unit: TRT: Coordinate with Roof Top Unit. After extending aerial about 15 ft. while ladder is bedded, E/O shall take pulley and rope to the tip of the aerial. E/O and Sr. Captain will set anchor slings and apply brake tube. Sr. Captain will apply wraps on brake tube. May use a rope winch system. Can be used for below grade when aerial cannot raise the basket out a below grade incident because too much rope has been played out. The ladder truck s rope will be used in this system and the TRT will add a 2 nd rope that will be placed into the winch that will raise and lower the basket manually.