TECHNICAL ROPE RESCUE QUICK REFERENCE Version 1.2 as of February 13, 2010 Technical rope rescue work is inherently dangerous. Risk is reduced by having the proper training and equipment, which allows employment of appropriate systems and individual practices. Safety factors and practices are designed to allow for optimal employment but should never be considered absolutes. The System What our training and actual implementation is all about! Must examine each piece of the system and know what it is expected to do and if it is properly utilized Our rescue ropes are 11 mm (7/16 ) x 200 foot static rope We currently have six 200 ft x 11 and one 600 ft x 11 mm static ropes Our anchor ropes are 12.5 mm (1/2 ) x 50 foot static rope Our prussic loops are 7mm static cord Our standard webbing is 1 inch tubular The team does not provide climbing ropes. Individual climbing ropes may vary between 9 mm 11 mm. These are dynamic ropes Items carried in the water support packs should not be used for technical rope rescue. They may vary in size, type, and rated strength. SYSTEM COMPONENTS 1 Belay Package Main Line Pkg Rescue/Pt Pkg Edge Package Tandem Prussik Belay Brake or Raising Litter rig Safety Zone Anchor Anchor Attendant(s) Edge lines & anchors Belayer Brake Opr or Pullers Rope ends Edge attendant Rope Rope Pt and harness Edge pro General Safety Treat the ROPE and SYSTEM with RESPECT. OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT! Every component in the system gets checked by another qualified member Have someone check your harness and points of attachment before you use it Do not use a rescue rope for other purposes
Do not shock load the system Do not step on a rope Try not to step over tensioned lines Do not go near the edge unless you are tied to a safety line Do not cut tensioned lines with a knife if possible use a trauma shear to make sure you only cut the intended line. Keep all bladed objects away from a tensioned line. Avoid nylon moving over nylon (i.e., rope over rope) It is generally not recommended that a rescue rope be used with a vehicle mounted winch. The winch capacity can easily over-stress or fail the rope /system if it gets caught on something. Store ropes properly. Do not expose to chemicals or heat. If the rope gets dirty or muddy, take it out of service and have it washed. Rescue Load and Safety Factors A rescue load is generally calculated as the weight of one rescuer and a victim, and the associated hardware and equipment with the basket stretcher and system. Each person is assigned an arbitrary weight of 300 lbs A rescue load is considered to be 600 lbs For mountain rescue purposes, a 10:1 safety factor is generally considered appropriate. (For Fire Service purposes, the National Fire Protection Association standard requires a 15:1 safety factor we DO NOT ascribe to this standard.) Multiplying the safety factor by the assumed rescue load (600 lbs x 10), the system should be capable of handling a minimum of 6,000 lbs Any time a piece of equipment, rope, webbing, etc., appears questionable, it should be taken out of service immediately. Ropes and Webbing Ropes and webbing rarely break they get CUT Webbing varies in color and length. Webbing should have the length marked on each end All ropes and webbing carried on our trucks or on your person should be inspected and ready for use BEFORE they are placed in storage All webbing should be stored with knots removed Store prussic loops with knots in place Use edge protection if at all possible Nylon ropes can lose 10-15% of their strength when wet 2
Hardware Common team hardware items consist of o Large (rescue) locking D or Pear shaped carabiners o Small (personal) locking D carabiners which do not meet the 27 + kn requirement for the system. Look at the biner and know what it will do! o Figure 8 ascenders with ears o Ascenders (single person) o Rappel rings (single person on a rope only) Two small personal carabiners may generally be substituted for one rescue carabiner in the system. Gates must be opposite and reversed. Load carabiners along the spine (long or major axis) Lock the carabiner gates hand tight - then back off ¼ to ½ turn before the system is loaded When using the brake bar rack, get in the habit of racking in all the bars when setting up and then removing bars as the load dictates. A brake bar rack does not twist the rope the way a figure 8 descender does which makes it a better choice for rescue load lowering operations. The figure 8 descender does not dissipate heat well. Be careful when handing after a long rappel. (One hot sucker!) Avoid linking two carabiners together Knots A sharp bend in a rope causes a loss of efficiency Depending upon the sharpness of the bend and the load being applied, there may be a loss in the overall working capability of the rope There are a number of different data sets available for different types and sizes of ropes and the various knots that are tied and tested. For general purposes, the following are some approximate reductions in efficiency/strength o Rope or cord - Figure 8 = approximately 20% o Rope or cord - Double Fisherman s (Prussik Loop) = approximately 20% o Webbing Water knot = approximately 50% Anchors Beware of the angle between the legs of a multi-point anchor o 45 degree angle = 50% of load on each anchor
o 90 degree angle = approximately 71% of load on each anchor o 120 degree angle = approximately 100% of load on each anchor o The wider the angle between anchor points, the greater the force applied to the anchors and the system Back up all questionable anchor points with a second anchor
APPROXIMATE STRENGTHS OF VARIOUS EQUIPMENT ITEM RATED (lbf) RATED (kn) NOTES Rope 11.5 mm (7/16 ) 7,600 34 Static (NFPA Light Use) Rope 9 mm 4,200 19 Dynamic Rope 12.5 mm (½ ) 9,200 41 Static (NFPA General Use) Carabiner - Omega Locking D 7,000 31 Carabiner CMC Protech 6,090 27 Carabiner Rescue (Aluminum) 9,700 43 Carabiner Rescue (XL Pear Aluminum) 10,400 46 Carabiner Rescue (Steel) 16,000 72 Cord 7mm Prussik Loop 3,200 14 Loop w/ double fisherman Cord 8 mm Prussik Loop Cord 9 mm Load Release Hitch Webbing 1 tubular (w/o knot) 4,000 17 Webbing 1 tubular loop w/ knot 6,000 26 CMC Anchor Strap 10,200 45 Figure 8 Descender (Rescue 8) 4,200 19 Brake Bar Rack (Aluminum) 4,000 17 Pulley (Blue 2 ¼ single) 9,800 43 Pulley (Red 3 ¾ single) 17,000 76 Pulley Hi-Line Carriage 8,000 36 Anchor Plate (Blue Aluminum) 11,300 50 O Ring (Aluminum) 5,000 22 Notes: 1. All numbers are APPROXIMATE 2. All items will vary slightly depending on manufacturer. 3. If manufacturer has affixed a lower value on the hardware item, use that number. 4. Carabiner ratings are with gates closed and locked. References: 1. Technical Rescue Riggers Guide, Lipke, 2 nd Edition 2. 2.CMC Rope Rescue Manual, Frank & Smith 2 nd Edition Note: Although there are specific references cited, numerous references were used when this was developed. There are many manuals and information sources out there that can provide specific answers if needed. Mark has worked hard to come up with good numbers for general system us. These are ONLY the results of my research. Mike 832