Hey Brothers and Sisters, I was just wondering if some one might be able to point me in the right direction here.. All across Canada, is there any departments or organizations that do a high amount of Rope Rescue or technical rescues? I know that there are a large amount of volunteer organizations out west that do search and rescue, or does it fall more on fire departments? Any insight would be fantastic
Thanks very much
Ropeworks
We don't provide rope rescue at our dept. We should but I have had no luck getting a program going, comes down to $ and training which I fully understand. That being said I own a tree business, and part of the OHSA act we are supposed to have another climber on site in case of an emergency trained to perform an aerial rescue. How many dept's trained in high angle rescue are competent to do a tree rescue? 9 times out of 10 you won't be getting yours/ours platform thru a back yard gate into a back yard for one. So comes down to ascending the tree, to do an aerial rescue right ladders are out of the question unless you want to become another victim. Maybe for a patient 20' up a tree might work, may get lucky. I was down in the states doing aerial rescue training as part of one of my courses recently, and to do an aerial rescue correctly I know for a fact none of the depts around here carry the right equipment to do the task safely/correctly. Any other dept's with high angle ever practice aerial tree rescues without an aerial truck? Interested to know, we practice quarterly with the patient at least 40' up a tree. To pass the certification we had to do a successful rescue at 35' using rope to lower the patient down, using theirs or ours. Plus using our bucket truck, which is way to easy. Anyways if anyone does it also or has ever done it let's hear it. Definetely not an easy task, but if you are trained and have the right gear can be done very easily and safely. Here are a few pics from our training last week, started low for some of the guys i was training and got higher every other time. That's me in the pics (not the dummy) We did this strictly using ropes, which means setting them in a suitable crotch/branch and not spurring the tree (which is a no no, spiking live trees) for emergencies yes you could ascend the tree using spikes then descend on rope, which you are supposed to do anyways.
We don't provide rope rescue at our dept. We should but I have had no luck getting a program going, comes down to $ and training which I fully understand. That being said I own a tree business, and part of the OHSA act we are supposed to have another climber on site in case of an emergency trained to perform an aerial rescue. How many dept's trained in high angle rescue are competent to do a tree rescue? 9 times out of 10 you won't be getting yours/ours platform thru a back yard gate into a back yard for one. So comes down to ascending the tree, to do an aerial rescue right ladders are out of the question unless you want to become another victim. Maybe for a patient 20' up a tree might work, may get lucky. I was down in the states doing aerial rescue training as part of one of my courses recently, and to do an aerial rescue correctly I know for a fact none of the depts around here carry the right equipment to do the task safely/correctly. Any other dept's with high angle ever practice aerial tree rescues without an aerial truck? Interested to know, we practice quarterly with the patient at least 40' up a tree. To pass the certification we had to do a successful rescue at 35' using rope to lower the patient down, using theirs or ours. Plus using our bucket truck, which is way to easy. Anyways if anyone does it also or has ever done it let's hear it. Definetely not an easy task, but if you are trained and have the right gear can be done very easily and safely. Here are a few pics from our training last week, started low for some of the guys i was training and got higher every other time. That's me in the pics (not the dummy) We did this strictly using ropes, which means setting them in a suitable crotch/branch and not spurring the tree (which is a no no, spiking live trees) for emergencies yes you could ascend the tree using spikes then descend on rope, which you are supposed to do anyways.
I know we have touched on this is a previous post but my reply to you would be that as an Arborist company / business, you should be responsible for your own rescue of your personnel, your rescue plan should be capable of carrying out any worst case scenario based on the task at hand, no different to Rope Access companies, they do not rely on Fire Depts to rescue them, they are self sufficient.
At the end of the day, a Fire Dept is not a Dept full of Supermen that are experts in all types of rescue, they do what they can with the budgets they have based on the risks they have determined are in their community.
I know we have touched on this is a previous post but my reply to you would be that as an Arborist company / business, you should be responsible for your own rescue of your personnel, your rescue plan should be capable of carrying out any worst case scenario based on the task at hand, no different to Rope Access companies, they do not rely on Fire Depts to rescue them, they are self sufficient.
At the end of the day, a Fire Dept is not a Dept full of Supermen that are experts in all types of rescue, they do what they can with the budgets they have based on the risks they have determined are in their community.
Whats the MOL's view on Arbory work?
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Well, there are a lot of fly by nighters and hacks (we call them) going around, they are the ones that aren't trained properly and often get hurt or have the most mishaps by the lack of training, crappy equipment. All of my companies training is done through ISA (International Society of Arborists) or TCIA (Tree Care Industry Association) The 2 big industry types like NFPA is to the fire service. All training is documented and only those signed off or properly trained can do the jobs. ie. working around electrical hazards. I usually go by the ANSI 133 tree care operational guidelines as they are more indepth then ours. But yeah if MOL shows up at a job they aren't shy on inspections and handing out fines. I have never been subject to that, but I do know a few of the inspectors and some stories that they have told me.
But being prepared, knowing what to do, and having the right equipment makes doing a rescue all that much easier. I hope we never have to actually do one, but waiting for other resources that can't do it showing up would be frustrating for sure.
Aerial tree rescue
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