47NEWSLETTERTECHNICAL RESCUE

www.t-rescue.com1 Technical Rescue magazine

Contents2: Issue 47 Sampler3: Issue 48 Sampler4: Reviews in the Pipeline5: Who’s Who at TRm

6: EventNEWS World Extrication Challenge - Canada

8: Product News

10: AQUATIC NEWS: HM Costguard - UK11: AQUATIC WEB - Helmet Bills12: 2006 Swiftwater Challenge Results13: TRm Back Issues14: Testing Rope Rescue Systems15: AirBagsAirBags

Jim Segerstrom, the world’s leadingproponent of swiftwater & flood rescueand Technical Rescue magazine’smuch loved US Editor has died aftersuffering a massive stroke. Furtherupdates will be given on the TRmwebsite and in the next newsletter: www.t-rescue.com

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ISSUE 47 Sampler ISSUE 48 SamplerGoing to print at the end of DecemberSubscribe via the website: www.t-rescue.com........ shopping......subscription

Left: A return for our PHOTOGALLERY see’s a series on the USCoastguard in action. AquaticRescue is dealt with in the secondpart of Jim Segerstrom's BoatTechniques.Right: Gear Reviews this issueinclude Rope Wise Bucket-Bag fromAustralia, The new 1/2” version ofthe Crossline used in a rope rescuerole and the TNT Telescopic stabilisation struts. Rope Rescuearticles are also provided by ReedThorne with 2nd part of his HighDirectionals piece and a look at theUS National Park Service’s HighAngle Rescue Training. Left: Petzl Tikka XP ATEX providesmini-headtorches for those demand-ing intrinsic safety.Right: Not one but two Back-to-Backarticles in this issue (if we can fitthem both in!!) One on Rescueknives, most of which incorporate aglass ‘punch’ and one continuingour look at waterproof cases - thistime the biggies!

MAG-INFO

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Electric/battery powered tools are the subjectof this issue’s EXTRICATION Market Guide.Cutters, spreader, combis and re-bar cuttersfrom the world’s leading manufacturers pro-vide a highly mobile and lighter-weight alter-native to hose-fed hydraulics. Mostly seen assimply a first response tool ( a job for whichthese tools are well suited) they are in factoften just as rescue-capable as their largerand heavier hose-fed brethren. No set-uptimes, transportable and single person oper-ating top the advantages of electric tools.

Our Featured Team this issue is YosemiteSearch & Rescue in California. Home of themost awesome and readily accessible bigwall climbs in the world. Yosemite NationalPark is a magnet for tourists and thrill seek-ers alike but these are some of the mostskilled thrill seekers in the rock-climbingworld and when things go wrong here, yourass is literally hanging in the breeze. We lookat the work, equipment, environment andincidents of this prominent Rescue Team.

For those that don’t subscribe to Technical Rescue magazine here’swhat you’re missing in issue 47:

Left: One of two aquatic articles in this issueStathis Avramidis of the European LifeguardAcademy in Greece, author of 6 books on life-guarding and lifesaving presents his research ondrowning patterns for various water activities.Also in this issue Jim Segerstrom continues hismonumental series on aquatic rescue with a thirdexamination of Boat operations and techniques. Below: Doc Stewart Boyd and his South AfricanColleagues detail an unusual and traumatic inci-dent following a trench collapse

Above Left: US Firefighter Guy Brown providesan insight into the actions that can be undertak-en by first responders to Trench collapse inci-dents before the better equipped specialistteams arrive. Left: National Park Ranger Rob Turan relatesthe high angle training initiative for NPS teammembers. Rob has taken Ken Phillip’s tried andtested format for training National Park Rangersin the large western parks like Grand Canyon,Yosemite and Grand Tetons and re-engineered itfor the much smaller but confined access parksof the US east coast.

Left: Among our reviews in this issue are theGotcha retrieval kit from Spanset, Suspensionmulti-tool from Gerber, Singing Rock’sabseil/ascent protection device and TNT’s stabili-sation struts. We also have a comparison of man-ually powered hydraulic tools for the ultimate inflexible, no-noise, no-pollution response!

Right: Leicestershire Fire & rescue providedetails of their vehicle fleet ina ne fact-file format.

Who’s Whoaatt TTRRmm??

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MAG-INFOMAG-INFO

Welcome Home to Mad Dinger McMad who has now completed hisumpteenth tour in Iraq and has returned to the UK to a more sedatelife as an Event and Hostile Environment medic in the private sector.

Congratulations to TRm Researcher, Swiftwater Instructor and TRU TechnicianRichard Hackwell who has been appointed to HM Coastguard as ConsultantCoastal Rescue delivering coastal rescue training nationally and advising on equip-ment and techniques. Unfortunately this means we lose Richard’s service on themagazine but his new role with HM Coastguard will lead to much useful researchand equipment testing which TRm will continue to report on.

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REVIEWSIN THE

PIPELINE:Technical Rescue magazine has over 15 years experience of

comparitive equipment tests. We review most items to welloutside of their operational design limitations. Sometimes kit

fails in these more abusive tests and to be perfectly fair to themanufacturer the item was never designed to operate in such away so we cannot deride it’s performance. But if it succeeds weCAN praise it’s ability to function outside of the norm. In this dayand age the ‘Fit-for-Purpose’ tag is negating a lot of old-style ‘wing-ing-it’ with whatever kit is available but there are always going tobe times when a problem crops up at an incident and you onlyhave limited equipment available - then all that beuracratic non-sense goes out the window and you have to useyour own initiative and hope that the kit yourdepartment bought is up to the task!! As always we have a fair amount of Water Rescueequipment being knocked about including a newSkua lightweight cag from Yak, Yak KontourHelmet Predator Helmets, Kokatat DrySuit anew ‘kevlar’ Mustang Drysuit and in a fewweeks Mustangs Heavy Duty Work suitwhich is a waterproof and insulated coverall. From Magellan the Roadmaster 760 GPSnavigation system has been held over againbecause we have yet to rectify some operat-ing problems. Stanavs can take 3 or 4 min-utes to get a lock but ours refuses to iden-tify our start position for several minutes atthe start of each journey - in the case of anurgent response this is obviously far fromideal. In most other respects theRoadmaster is very much a master of theroads - but that’s only any use once you’rewell into the journey! Coleman Multi-Fuel Stove: Not a newproduct but certainly one of the marketleaders and in these days of multi-day USAR operations it mayhave a whole new market outside of its traditional SAR advocates.Able to operate with virtually any form of liquid fuel from diesel to

white spirit the Omni-Fuel is a versa-tile tool for survival and comfort dur-ing operations. From Gerber we have 2 multi-tools, arescue knife and a small LED torch.The Multitools represent both ends oftheir price spectrum with the Chinese

made Suspension at the bottom and with which we are veryimpressed and the large Recoil at the top of the price list. TheSuspension has a fairly narrow head which we have managaed totest to destruction in a ‘gorilla’ test but it is the handiest and bestvalue tool we’ve come across in a while.We’re currently running a tandem review of the latest Magnum boots with Goliath’s USAR oriented GTX black boot. Both have ‘rapid’ zippers and both have a fine degree of comfort from theget-go. The Magnum has exhibited a serious problem with diggingin of a reinforcing element on the ankle but is otherwise the morecomfortable of the two boots.

On the Book front we have both of the most recent (6th) editionsof PHTLS Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support from Mosby. TheMilitary version includes a platicised gatefold prompt card and is624 pages, 30 pages more than the civilian version. Both versionsalso include a CD and 8 double-sided tear-out PHTLS promptcards - on heavy duty plasticised card. George Brown & Gus Crist’s Confined Space Rescue is publishedby Delmar and is 203 pages of equipment, procedures and hazardmitigation in a Black & white format.Due to our Extrication lads attending the WorldExtrication Challenge in Canada we were a litlelate in starting the Lukas CP100 powerpack &combi-tool review so we’ll report on that next

time having had a real chance to abuseit. We’re testing not only t’s standardvehicle extrication role but also it’s use-fulness in the water rescue and particu-lalry marine rescue environments forrescue aboard ship. We’re also check-ing out the Lukas Ram supports.Medically we’ve been a bit lax lately

with new equipment but have been playing very successfully withthe O-Two Smart Bag which negates inadvertant gastric insuffla-tion. If you’d like to submit a product or suggest a Back to Back,Review or Market Guide contact us at info@t-rescue.com or

4 Technical Rescue magazine

“Look, can you make this quick, I’m busy....” Ade Scott takesanother annoying ‘have you had an accident recently that wasn’tyour fault’ call while descending Steve’s alternative Scenic Lift onPortsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower (UK)

Gary Cross (left) and Jim Hutchen achieved 3rd place in theTrauma Medics category at the UKRO Nationals in Brighton(UK) in July. Then Jim managed 2nd place overall in theTrauma Medic category at the International ExtricationChallenge in Burlington, Canada. Winchester Fire Station isHampshire’s specialist vehicle extrication station with Jim asMedic and Gary as the teams back-up medic and the teamachieved a very creditable 7th out of 28. Great work boys. Seenext page for full placings in the Burlington, Canada Event.

Technical Rescue magazine 7www.t-rescue.com

EVENTNEWS

Limited Limited Unlimited Unlimited RRaapid pid OvOvererallall

MississaugMississauga CAN a CAN 357 357 FFalkalkenberenberg SWE g SWE 322 322 FFalkalkenberenberg SWE g SWE 291 291 PPalm Harbor USA alm Harbor USA 924 924

PPalm Harbor USA alm Harbor USA 345 345 St.St. Clair CAN Clair CAN 307 307 Marion County USA Marion County USA 282 282 MississaugMississauga CAN a CAN 914 914

CorCoral Gaal Gabbles USA les USA 335 335 HampshirHampshire UKe UK 305 305 PPalm Harbor USA alm Harbor USA 274 274 FFalkalkenberenberg SWE g SWE 905 905

OttaOttawwa a WWest est 330 330 MississaugMississauga a 305 305 SudbSudburury y 273 273 OttaOttawwa a WWest est 856 856

HarHarlem-Rlem-Roscoe oscoe 328 328 PPalm Harbor alm Harbor 305 305 Chili Chili 267 267 CorCoral Gaal Gabbles les 851 851

DeFDeFororest est 324 324 DeFDeFororest est 301 301 MississaugMississauga a 252 252 St.St. Clair Clair 829 829

BrBrampton ampton 319 319 OttaOttawwa a WWest est 299 299 PPembrembrokoke Pines e Pines 252 252 HampshirHampshire e 828 828

NiaNiaggarara Fa Falls alls 314 314 Marion County Marion County 291 291 HampshirHampshire e 251 251 OttaOttawwa East a East 815 815

PuyPuyallupallup 311 311 Chili Chili 288 288 HalifHalifax ax 242 242 DeFDeFororest est 811 811

St.St. Clair Clair 304 304 Brighton Brighton 287 287 Hamilton Hamilton 241 241 PuyPuyallup allup 798 798

OttaOttawwa East a East 299 299 CorCoral Gaal Gabbles les 284 284 OttaOttawwa East a East 240 240 NiaNiaggarara Fa Falls alls 797 797

FFalkalkenberenberg g 292 292 OttaOttawwa East a East 276 276 LadLady's Island y's Island 235 235 Brighton Brighton 796 796

LadLady's Island y's Island 291 291 Oakville Oakville 271 271 PuyPuyallup allup 233 233 PPembrembrokoke Pines e Pines 793 793

ElizaElizabeth-Kitlebeth-Kitley y 290 290 SundrSundre e 266 266 CorCoral Gaal Gabbles les 232 232 Chili Chili 788 788

Brighton Brighton 290 290 PPembrembrokoke Pines e Pines 261 261 OttaOttawwa a WWest est 227 227 Marion County Marion County 777 777

PPembrembrokoke Pines e Pines 280 280 ElizaElizabeth-Kitlebeth-Kitley y 260 260 NiaNiaggarara Fa Falls alls 226 226 HarHarlem-Rlem-Roscoe oscoe 770 770

HampshirHampshire e 272 272 NiaNiaggarara Fa Falls alls 257 257 Brighton Brighton 219 219 BrBrampton ampton 769 769

HalifHalifax ax 242 242 BrBrampton ampton 257 257 St.St. Clair Clair 218 218 LadLady's Island y's Island 768 768

Hamilton Hamilton 240 240 HarHarlem-Rlem-Roscoe oscoe 256 256 Lincoln Lincoln 213 213 ElizaElizabeth-Kitlebeth-Kitley y 752 752

Chili Chili 233233 Hamilton Hamilton 255 255 BeaBeavver Crer Creek eek 213 213 Hamilton Hamilton 736 736

SudbSudburury y 215 215 PuyPuyallup allup 254 254 Oakville Oakville 211 211 SudbSudburury y 725 725

Oakville Oakville 212 212 BeaBeavver Crer Creek eek 244 244 ElizaElizabeth-Kitlebeth-Kitley y 202 202 HalifHalifax ax 713 713

Lincoln Lincoln 209 209 LadLady's Island y's Island 242 242 Hammonds Plains Hammonds Plains 195 195 Oakville Oakville 694 694

Marion County Marion County 204 204 Hammonds Plains Hammonds Plains 239 239 SundrSundre e 194 194 BeaBeavver Crer Creek eek 625 625

GrGrand Blanc and Blanc 178 178 SudbSudburury y 237 237 BrBrampton ampton 193 193 SundrSundre e 614 614

BeaBeavver Crer Creek eek 168 168 HalifHalifax ax 229 229 HarHarlem-Rlem-Roscoe oscoe 186 186 GrGrand Blanc and Blanc 581 581

SundrSundre e 154 154 GrGrand Blanc and Blanc 225 225 DeFDeFororest est 181 181 Hammonds Plains Hammonds Plains 577 577

Hammonds Plains Hammonds Plains 143 143 Lincoln Lincoln 204 204 GrGrand Blanc and Blanc 178 178 Lincoln Lincoln 525 525

Medic Medic Incident Incident SafSafetyetyCommander Commander

FFalkalkenberenberg g 124 124 PPalm Harbor alm Harbor 222 222 FFalkalkenberenberg g 137 137 HampshirHampshire e 113 113 MississaugMississauga a 222 222 PPalm Harbor alm Harbor 136 136 Oakville Oakville 111 111 CorCoral Gaal Gabbles les 216 216 OttaOttawwa a WWest est 135 135

*If*If the incident commander scorthe incident commander score is tied,e is tied, total time is the tie-brtotal time is the tie-breakeakerer,, ffolloollowwed bed by pery personnel safsonnel safety ifety if necessarnecessaryy..

WORLD EXTRICATION CHALLENGEBURLINGTON - CANADA 2006

This event was organised by TERC (Transportation Emergency Resource Center)

EVENTNEWS

6 Technical Rescue magazine www.t-rescue.com

Falkenberg paramedics wear green while the rescuers wear red.

Above: Beaver Creeks extrication required the use of stacked air bags

Hampshire’s Medic James Hutchen oversees application of the spine board..

SURVIVE!

Vital subsistence products from ROSKER LTD -www.rosker.com8 Technical Rescue magazine www.t-rescue.com

PRODUCT NEWS PRODUCT NEWS

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NEW EDITION of LIFE ON A LINE due out soon This comprehensive On-line text by Dr Dave Merchant is well worth your support. The new web-sitewww.lifeonaline.com will be fully live shortly but in the meantime follow the link to the exisitng site.

The first edition of LOAL was created in 2002, and since then over 45,000 copies have been downloaded.Since then, new techniques and equipment have arrived on the scene and several 'missing' aspects ofthe book have been hinted at by readers. Well, hint no more! An entirely revised second edition of LifeOn A Line is being written, and will be released at the end of 2006. It will include:

• Updated and much expanded equipment tests and comparisons, including ropes! • New sections on stretcher rigging and selection • Suspension trauma and medical aspects of casualty transport • Higher resolution artwork - it may BE cheap but it won't LOOK cheap! • Expanded section on cableways and load calculations • ALL existing chapters re-edited and updated

NEW INTERNATIONAL FORMAT:

You all know that the first edition of LOAL was written for UK cave rescue teams, but it's seen massive popularity with teams in the US,Australasia and pretty much everywhere there's a hole in the ground! I didn't want to make readers feel they had to 'convert' what I say,so the second edition is entirely international. To fill in the 'local quirks' there will be a series of 'part 4' modules which cover everythingfrom legislation to liability, equipment choices to training. I'm hoping (hint hint) that more modules will be added by folks who careenough to write them for us. LOAL2 is due for release at the end of 2006. I KNOW it's taking a long time, but it involves a hugeamount of work and considerable cost in time and equipment for all those in the author group. The delay is partly down to a huge pro-gram of new product testing and the release of new standards, and partly down to members of our Author Group diverted to moreurgent issues in technical rescue. Charges for LOAL2: For the last 12 months we've been asking politely for donations if you felt thebook was useful. Frankly the number of people donating was smaller than the number of people WRITING the second edition, and thecosts of destroying equipment, lab tests and travel is larger than you'd think. SO... LOAL2 is not going to be free. Not to everyone, any-ways. We will be providing the book, in an all-new high quality PDF format, for a small fee of a few dollars/pounds/euros. The cost isENTIRELY to cover our own costs, this is not a profit-making operation. Registered charities and volunteer rescue teams will be enti-tled to free copies. The new edition will also have a new home, due for launch when it's ready, and at (wait for it..)www.LifeOnALine.com

Extrication Film to deal efficiently with glassExtrication Film to deal efficiently with glassfragments and shards:fragments and shards:

TERRAIN MAPPING for SARA radar, originally developed by the National Nuclear SecurityAdministration’s Sandia National Laboratories for military surveillance andreconnaissance applications, is helping a volunteer search and rescue groupsave lives. Rapid Terrain Visualization (RTV) precision-mapping syntheticaperture radar (SAR) data was used for the first time last November by theAlbuquerque Mountain Rescue Council (AMRC) to help find and rescue ahiker stranded in the dark in the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico. SARexperts at Sandia say the same technology could map other mountainousterrain around the country and be used in search and rescue missionsthere. RTV had the potential of providing detailed information about ter-rain where searches are underway, including heights, locations of crevicesand cliffs, and even different types of vegetation using interferometric syn-thetic aperture radar (IFSAR). Two antennae offset in elevation aboard amoving aircraft allow the measurement of target height, as well as east-west and north-south position like conventional SAR. This produces a 3-D map that shows terrain details. See Pic Right.The IFSAR maps have an absolute height accuracy of less than twometers and a relative accuracy of less than one meter. No other mapping system in the world achieves this level of accuracy combined with a high area cover-age rate and real-time processing. The IFSAR can map day or night and through cloud cover. Dale Dubbert of Sandia’s SAR Sensor TechnologiesDepartment provided the AMRC map data of the Sandia Mountains, obtained while the RTV SAR was installed on a deHavilland DHC-7 Army aircraft. Hegave the council a CD of the maps last year. A few months later, the search and rescue group used the precision maps for the first time. when a hiker became

lost in the Sandia Mountains. After collecting additional information on the hiker’s location, Sandiaresearcher Steve Attaway, a long-time group member took a few minutes to create detailed RTV SARmaps. He zoomed in on the area where the man was believed to be and printed out color maps of thelocation.Attaway then went to the Sandia tram (aerial lift that takes people from the base of the SandiaMountains to the peak), located on the west side of the mountains where the rescuers were gathering,and took the tram up to the peak. “The hiker was climbing the mountain using the tram cables as aguide for off-trail hiking,” Attaway says. “He apparently became lost while attempting to follow thetram towers and used his cell phone to call for help. We spotted him from the tram as he waved hisflashlight so we would notice him. But seeing him and getting to him were two different things.” Theterrain in the area where the hiker was lost is extremely rugged. Members of the rescue group areexperts in using compasses, GPS, and topographic maps, but even for them the terrain was difficult to

navigate. AMRC President Bill Scherzinger, another Sandia employee who also participated in the rescue mission, says that’s when the crew turned to the RTVSAR maps for help. “The detail available helped us make our way to the man,” Scherzinger says. “The maps were color-coded for height and gave estimates ofground roughness. They also distinguished individual rock formations — known to the rock climbers in our group — that are not seen on the topographicmaps.”The initial plan was to have rescuers ride the tram to the top of the mountainand then hike down to the stranded hiker’s location. However, when they deter-mined that the man was not near the bottom of the canyon, but instead at thetop of a ridge called Dragon’s Tail, plans changed. The hiker was 100 feet downfrom the top in a narrow slot that was impossible to access without technicalrock climbing. “Using the RTV SAR maps to help us plan the rescue, we sentone team to nearby Echo Canyon to better determine the exact location of thehiker. A second team went along the treacherous ridgeline of the Dragon’s tail.The first team made voice contact with the man from the bottom of the bluffsat about 3 a.m.,” Scherzinger says. The second team rappelled to the hiker at 6a.m., following a ridgeline that was one of the most difficult and risky routesthe rescue group had ever attempted. Another four-hour hike using climbinggear and ropes was necessary to bring the man to safety. The entire rescue tookmore than 12 hours. “There’s no doubt that if we didn‘t have the RTV SARmaps, reaching the stranded hiker would have been even more difficult than itwas,” Scherzinger says. “The 3-D detail of SAR maps saved us time while wewere planning our route. We expect to continue to use the RTV SAR in futurerescue missions where it seems like it will help the most.” The data was provid-ed courtesy of the Joint Precision Strike Demonstration Project Office, Ft.Belvoir, Virginia, which manages the Rapid Terrain Visualization project.

Sandia Laboratories is operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department ofEnergy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security,energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.Sandia technical contacts: Dale Dubbert, dfdubbe@sandia.gov , (505) 845-8424; Bill Scherzinger, wmscher@san-dia.gov, (505) 284-4866

SAR/USAR

NEW ‘Multi-Tool’from SOG

The UK Coastguard Service (HMCoastguard) is to discontinuethe term ‘Auxillary’ for it’s voluntary team membership andinstead emphasise its Search and Rescue role and capability.The term COASTGUARD RESCUE SERVICE will now be morecommonly seen with auxillaries now known as Coast RescueOfficers. Vehicles will be signwritten with the words ‘SEARCH& RESCUE’ so that the public are made more aware of theCoastguard’s capabilities at incidents. With flood and swift-water rescue becoming an ever more prevalent event theCoastguard is also set to expand its specialist capabilities. Themajority of UK flooding is within a Coastguard Team areaand as trained water rescuers it is a logical step to enhancethe service’s ability to deal quickly with flood and swiftwaterrescue incidents. This was highlighted recently in an incidentin Scotland utilising the service’s first fully trained SwiftwaterTeam set up to deal with localised flooding. The team, based in Morayshire to deploy anywhere in Scotland and Northern UK" is currently implementing MOUs (Memorandum ofUnderstanding) with other agencies including Grampian Fire Service. The team has developed local Flood SOPs, response levels, training standards,risk assessment and is fully equipped with standard swiftwater equipment as well as using standard CG gear as appropriate. Thanks to IanFairbairn, Swiftwater Rescue Team Manager for the team photos shown here. Following is the MCA’s press release on this incident:

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (381-06)issued by The Government News Network on 26 October 2006At half past nine this morning, Aberdeen Coastguard were contacted byEmergency planning authorities to request the assistance of HerMajesty's Coastguard to a major incident in Dingwall.Aberdeen Coastguard called out Coastguard rescue teams trained inswift water rescue from Inverness, Burghead and Lossiemouth.The coastguard teams were sent to Dingwall to assist colleagues in theNorthern Constabulary at the scene of extensive flooding. They assistedin confirming that all persons were accounted for and taken to a place ofsafety.Coastguard teams continue to work alongside colleagues from thepolice and fire services in Dingwall as required.Fred Caygill, from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "In accor-

dance with our obligation as category 1 responders contained withthe Civil Contingency Act we responded to a request for assistancefrom the Northern Constabulary and the emergency planning authori-ties. We are pleased that our coastguard rescue teams who aretrained in flood water rescue were able to provide a service inland toour emergency service colleagues and the residents of Dingwall. Thisis the first live incident of flooding where the coastguards trainedin this discipline have had to deploy to use their skills”.

10 Technical Rescue magazine www.t-rescue.com

AQUATIC WEBAQUATIC NEWS

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www.specialrescue.comvoice: 209-743-9451

WATER RESCUE TRAININGFrom the originators of Swiftwater Rescue: the

finest experience-based courses for Fire, Police &Sheriff depts worldwide. Awareness, Ops,

Technician and Instructor level courses from theworld’s longest established swiftwater instructors.

WATER RESCUEHELMET BILLS

FROM THE SWIFTH2O NewsGroupFrom Mike Crosslin:Hi All,Cant recall who asked why many whitewater boaters wear helmets that have apronounced duckbill, and to be honest I thought it was because of stylingissues. I was wrong. I learned at the Whitewater Symposium that these hel-mets create a pronounced air-pocket when water flows over the back the hel-met...ie during a pin, entrapment or strong swimmer rescue. A victim can befully submerged and if the head is positioned downstream it is possible tocreate an airpocket by pulling air out of whitewater, similar to the eddyeffect...many have experienced this inside a roostertail during a v-lower.Seems that this is greatly improved by the duckbill shape of these helmets.Other helmets can simulate this effect by wearing a baseball cap inside thehelmet or adding a external Salamander type visor. Listened to several reportsof pins where the slight adjustment of the bill of a baseball cap inside a hel-met directly influenced survival. Important to remember that in somecases NOTHING is visible from the surface...boater is fully submerged yet isBREATHING air pulled from the whitewater flowing past. Also learned thatthe same effect can be created by positioning the elbows forward of yourhead similar to the sit up position... subject to fatigue however. Also learnedfrom several reports that thermal protection on the head is key during longentrapment ordeals, giving the strength to keep the head up and mind func-tioning to help with self-rescue. Lastly one story of a self-rescue with a knifewhen a spray skirt snagged behind a boater and needed to be cut free. Heattributes his life to a knife I believe called a "bear claw", curved blade with alarge hole in the blade. During the long ordeal he attributes the hol;e in theblade with saving his life..".no other knife would have allowed me to keep agrip on the knife with numb hands and repeatly slash behind me to cut thesprayskirt free. Lastly, many thanks to Mike Mather and Julie Munger forpassing on so much great information. MC

From Ben Waller:I just returned home from a TARS advanced SWR class on the HiwasseeRiver in Tennessee. One of the skill stations is a human piton pin survivaland rescue station at the bottom of an 8-foot waterfall. All of the studentsget some quality downtime in the air pocket behind the waterfall. This partic-ular drop is spaced so that you breathe air if you have a helmet or baseballhat bill increasing the size of the air pocket. If no bill, you get to inhale water.The Salamander bills don't work as well, as they're very flexible and tend toget pushed down over the wearer's face. We've had good success with a vari-ety of billed helmets, including Sweet, WRSI, and Greatful Heads, as well asheavy-duty baseball cap bills under just about any type of non-billed helmetsincluding Cascades, Pro-Tecs, Petzl climbing helmets, and even hockey hel-mets.Survival tips for rescuers include wearing a bill at least 3 to 4 inches long, and

keeping the bill perpendicular to the current - if possible - in order to createan air pocket as large as possible.The way this works seems to be a combination of at least two things:1) The bill seems to work as an "upstream obstacle" to the airway,dividing the water and increasing the size of the air-filled eddy forthe face.2) The bill effect seems to increase the air supply by popping thebubbles in the aerated whitewater and releasing some of this air behindthewater "curtain" in the drop.Sometimes it's not the big things.........!.

From Mike Crosslin:Seems a billed helmet or stiff baseball cap inside a nonbilled helmet is asmall adjustment can payoff big.Also the notion that aggressive attempts to locate a missing submergedboater beyond the traditional notion of airway time makes sense, the con-census at the Symposium seemed that 1 hour of focused locate and extricateseemed reasonable.. ..completely separate of cold water submersioneffects...which probably count a little , at best, for most well thermally insu-lated boaters. Focus seems to be shifting towards direct rescuer support ifpossible... shallow water crossing if possible, perhaps quick tension ferrybelay that can double as a support line, or staight to a support line, then snagline. Two rope systems, simple and quick were the favorite, Mike Mathertaught a simplification of the Carlson cinch that impressed all, and anythingmore complicated seems impractical. Lots of discussion of what to do insmall remote boating groups of two-four boaters and in circumstanceswhere one has access to only one side of the river...common in small groups.Kiwi method with line capture still the best solution. Lots of interest withadvaced boaters regarding self rescue methods...or at least 50% of the equa-tion with personal throwbags jettisoned off a jacket or harness and then linecapture.There was universal support for rescue savvy boaters wearing a PERSONALthrowbag. As Mike Mather eloquntly put it " this is MY throwbag, there aremany like it, but this one is MINE" Going so far as to say that inspecting hisboating partners throwbag is part of his safety check.. He is teaching oneday swiftwater rescue awarness training for new boaters for Dagger, greatidea that I think step in the right direction for kayak manufacturers.Another really brilliant idea I witnessed came from a preview of a prototypelifejacket from Patagonia built as a standard paddle jacket but had an innova-tive feature that I think will be the convergence solution for many problemswith standard jackets. It incorporated a inner angled, articulated inner har-ness belt that securely holds the jacket on, even on big bellys...best way todescribe its effect is similar to Chinese handcuffs that cinch whenlifted...REALLY AMAZING.Additionally this could be incorporated into a rescue jacket as a click typeharness buckle and a psuedo belt for a throwbag incorporated into a welltucked, secure, low profile position on the jacket.. Keep the strong swim-mers belt, but give a super secure swami style security to the lifejacket.. .witha wider range of safe fit, and protected area in the front for a tag bag.. Hardto describe but very FAST donning with incredible jacket security. Hopefullythis idea will catch on and we will see a transformation in the security ofjackets. MC

BEFORE YOU RUSH OUT BUY ONE.......From Scott Coultas:Helmets with bills may create a useful air pocket. On the other hand, theymay also "scoop" water if the current comes from the other direction. I hadpaddling incident that put this issue in the front of my mind. I'd let myStrutter Sweetstuff helmet get a little loose in the chin strap. I flipped overin a class IV rapid and the water pulled the helmet back and exposed myforehead. No damage done. But, . . . I learned a good lesson about keepingmy chin strap tightened. The helmet does no good if not properly fitted andsecured. Scooping may cause a helmet that is not correctly fitted and securedto be torn off or pulled out of position thus reducing the protection.I wonder if the scooping force could be strong enough to overpower theneck muscles and pull the head?

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Technical Rescue magazine 13www.t-rescue.com

Technical Rescue magazine

BACK ISSUES

This year’s Challengeraised funds for theHiggins & Langley

award scheme. JimSegerstrom steppedin at the last minuteto help organise thisyear’s event which is

due to be inVancouver BC in

2007.

12 Technical Rescue magazine www.t-rescue.com

AQUATIC NEWS

After the late withdrawal of defending champions Los Angeles Co FireDept and two other teams due to FEMA committment to HurricaneErnesto this year’s event included Team OARS, based in Angels Camp;California Search and Rescue (CALSAR), a mixed team from Alamedaand Marin counties and Team Rescue Japan, from Gifu suburb inTokyo. Each team of 6-12 members had to include at least one femaleparticipant and were required to undertake a throw bag accuracy test, atimed river swim, a timed victim rescue swim, a rescue board time trial,a two-person rescue boat timed trail, and a timed raft paddle.The thowbag test required three members from each team to deploy athrowline to a swimmer being swept past. CALSAR accumulated mostpoints followed by Team Japan. For the timed swim three membersfrom each team had to swim to six points on either side of the riverbattling a fierce current and low water temperature. Team Japan’s onlywoman Tomoni Sasaki easily won the event followed by Team OARS.Team OARS took the next event, successfully towing a victim acrossthe river 3 times. Team Japan were again victoriaous in the RescueBoard challenge requiring negotitaion of class 2 and 3 rapids along ahalf mile stretch of river. The fifth event was taken by OARS who, notsurprisingly were at home paddling an inflatble boat down the coarse.They then followed this up witha victory in the 6-man paddle just pip-ping Japan at the post. Despite these two final victories Team Japanaccumulated the most points to claim overall victory in this year’s chal-lenge.Contact Jim by email for details of next year’s event jim@specialrescue.com

Team Rescue Japan— Akihiko Nomura,Kazuyuki Inagaki,Sinichi Mizuta, TetsuyaTakayama, MasayaYamada, TomomiSasaki, Jun Kobayashi.Team OARS — CalveyWendt, Ryan Miller,Brandon Brake, TylerWendt, Nathan Bricker.Team CalSAR —Nelson Trichler, KaiPasquale, SherriTrichler, Lee Finlayson,Robert Ranoa, BillWeber.

14 Technical Rescue magazine Technical Rescue magazine 15www.t-rescue.com www.t-rescue.com

TESTINGROPESYSTEMS

A decade or so ago we engaged in an extensive series of tests examiningthe braking ability of Belay and Descent devices when used to arrest afalling rescue load. We used John Dill et al’s test criterion from the BCtests on prusik knots and applied them to autolocking devices. Deviceslike the Petzl Stop and Petzl Shunt were far more prevalent in the UKthan in the US/Canada and at that time we were concerned that the vastmajority of equipment being used in rescue was never intended to handlesuch high loads. Our ‘rescue’ load was 200kg but even this was beingsuperceded back then by a much higher test load corresponding to theincreasing weight of individuals and their equipment. We made a point ofensuring that each test was carried out in exactly the same way relativeto the previous test and that outside factors such as moisture and temper-ature were eliminated (ie. we didn’t test in wet or cold conditions). But atthe time we indicated that we actually work in cold and wet so we reallyneeded to know how these factors would affect the tests. Unfortunatelywe ran out of time and money. The long and the short of this tale is thatafter multiple tests we found that certain devices in common rescue usecould cause catastrophic failure and that some devices considered dan-gerous by some or by heresay performed well every time! We neverclaimed that our tests were a laboratory analysis and some claimed they

were not valid for precisely that reason - because they would be difficult to duplicate in exactly theway we had carried them out. This is true, but the point that many seemed not to grasp is that ourtests were pretty much a real-world application using equipment and procedures the way we actuallyused them in real life. We saw little point in engineering lab conditions if it resulted in a procedure orconditions we never saw on an actual rescue. Take so-called ‘low-loading’ tests. These are where anitem is slow pulled by a mechanical device until it causes the test item to fail. A haul system wouldmost closely duplicate this test but even so may fail at the higher peak forces caused by a jerky(shock-inducing) haul motion by one or more haulers. Drop tests are a much better indication of whatcan cause catastrophic failure in the real world - SHOCK-LOADING. But ANY test, even the slow-pulltests, may duplicate the equipment and procedures you are using in real life and therefore may indi-cate a possible failure mode that should be avoided or mitigated within your rescue systems. If it isproved that it is possible for a device or rope to fail under certain circumstances no matter howobscure then it may be something worthy of further examination. Some tests may entirely contradict

the findings of another test but agin, the point may not be that the test procedures areflawed - simply that they are DIFFERENT! There are so many potential failure points

for our equipment and a myriad of combinations of rope type and equipment type (wefound many devices worked well on one type of rope but failed miserably on another!!) that it is always a very time consuming andexpensive proposition to cover all thebases. Our conclusion was that EVERYTEAM should test its own systems makingsure that its devices worked OK for thespecific rope type and environmental condi-tions in your area. Since then we haveseen an enormous amount of testing -much of it by the manufacturers to ensurethat their equipment will work in it’s outerenvelope but there is still an awful lot oftesting that doesn’t seem to reflect the highloads and extreme weather possible in arescue. SO....... we want to hear about all of yourINFORMAL testing whether it be one test ora whole heap of them. The only thing wemust stipulate is that we need to know pre-cisely how you carried out the test in termsof applying the load, under what climaticconditions and what state of equipent(new,used,abused?). Most importantly weneed to know how you measured or inter-preted your results - nothing too scientificjust what load cell you used (if any) and didit have peak load capture. It would be very useful and interesting tohear about your tests involving specificrope brands and specific devices even ifyou feel that the tests were flawed in someway. The tests on the Petzl Shunt shownabove are part of a series undertaken inNorway by Pete Vickers (Sjoa AdventureAS - www.sjoaadventure.com), JanGjeterud (Rescue 3 Norway) & Bjørn ArildBrynjulfsen (www.can.no) just to give youan idea of what we would like to see in theway of presentation - plenty of good quality,clear photographs gives us the opportunityto visually analyse what’s going on in rela-tion to your results. In Pete, Bjorn & Jan’scase the tests are slow-pull tests examiningthe upper ends of the the devices loadcapability such as could occur when usedas the haul-cam/device in a pulley systemwhere forces can be muliplied at this criticalpoint of contact. Email us at info@t-res-cue.com and after checking the details withyou we’ll pass on your findings to a muchwider audience!!

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