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IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Chapter 7 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES The previous chapter covered rescues using the full range of specialist equipment available to an RAF MRT. However, the situation may occur when team members become involved in an incident where some, or all, of that equipment may not be readily available and immediate action is required. Such a situation could occur whilst you are carrying out routine climbing training and an accident occurs nearby. Every situation is unique and will therefore require a unique sequence of actions to solve a particular problem. For this reason team members should be familiar with the various components which can be put together to perform an improvised rescue rather than learning set piece solutions. The ability to think clearly, logically and imaginatively is the key to improvised rescue. It is not intended to cover every technique within this chapter, however, the techniques described will allow a simple crag rescue to be effected without the use of specialised equipment and should serve as an introduction to the many and varied methods of improvised rescue. See Chapter 13 for details of knots used in this Chapter. Improvised Harnesses Both sit harness and chest harnesses can be constructed from the long “Superblue” tape sling carried by all RAF MRS personnel. Sit Harness. The Dulfer seat is the most commonly used improvised sit harness. Pass the sling behind the back but do not step into it. The knot or sewn joint should be positioned in the middle of the back where it will be out of the way and least uncomfortable. Pull a loop either side of your body and one up between your legs. Clip all three loops together at the front with a large pear-shaped karabiner, which can be further clipped in the waist belt or rope for extra security and to prevent the Dulfer seat from continually falling around your knees. Chest Harness. The simplest and most effective improvised chest harness is the Parisienne Baudrier. Put an arm through the sling, pass it round your back and tie the 2 loops together with a Sheet Bend. It is very important to ensure that you do not pass the end of the sling through the loop that goes over the shoulder. If you do, the resulting knot will be a slip knot and any load will only tighten the sling around the body causing asphyxiation and possible death. The harness should be snug but not tight enough to cause restricted movement. The loop left after tying the knot is used as the connecting link to the sit sling or harness. See Fig 44. 7-1 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES FIG:44 Improvised Sit and Chest Harness Alternatively, it is possible to construct a simple “allin-one” harness using bights of rope and a Thompson Knot as shown in FIG:45a and b. Fig 45a A Thompson Knot tied in the end of the rope 7-2 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Fig 45b Improvised Harness - Thompson Knot The Thompson knot is tied by taking 2 large loops at the end of the rope, from roughly shoulder height to the ground, thus making 5 strands in all as shown in Fig 45. Take all 5 strands and tie an overhand knot in the middle to form 4 loops, ensuring that the ‘live’ rope is coming out of the top of the knot. Step into 2 of the loops and pass the other 2 over your head and under each arm. The position of the overhand knot when tied must be adjusted so that it is above the navel. This harness should only be used for lowering. 7-3 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Escaping from the System This is a term used to describe the process by which you remove yourself from the belay system and the end of the rope whilst safeguarding the security of your climbing partner, with the live rope under tension. There are a number of reasons why you might need to carry out this technique, although a typical scenario would be where your climbing partner has been injured, say by a falling rock, and you must escape from the system so as to descend to his position to administer first aid or to leave to summon help. The method described assumes that the different anchor points have been linked to create one central point. The basic method for escaping from the system is shown in Fig 45c. a. Hold the weight on the belay plate and lock it off. b. Attach a French prusik to the live rope; extend it with a sling which is then clipped to the central anchor point. (If the central anchor point cannot be reached, then a further French prusik or Klemheist can be placed on the rope attaching the belayer to the anchor, which is then clipped as shown). c. Push the live rope French prusik down the rope until it is fully extended and under tension, then unlock the belay plate and gradually allow the load to transfer onto the prusik and central anchor point. Tie an Italian Hitch* in the dead rope and attach it to the central anchor point (if you cannot reach the anchor refer to sub-para b). d. Remove the belay plate and take in any slack rope before locking off the Italian Hitch. Carefully releasing the French Prusik on the live rope will transfer the load from the Prusik back on to the main rope. The belayer may now untie from the end of the rope, if necessary, making sure that a knot is tied in the end of his tie-on rope to prevent any likelihood that the Prusik might slip off the free end. The belayer must also ensure that his personal security is not compromised at any time. Note: * Employing an Italian Hitch to attach the rope to the main anchor allows the rope to be released and the load to be easily lowered, if required at a later stage. A Clove hitch may be used instead of an Italian Hitch, although this does remove the flexibility provided by an Italian hitch. 7-4 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Fig 45c HOISTING There are 2 basic types of hoist used in rescue situations; the assisted hoist and the unassisted hoist. Before undertaking a hoist in a rescue situation you should be absolutely certain that this is what you need to do. If the victim is a “dead” weight on the end of the rope it may be impossible for one person to hoist efficiently. In any hoist, however, the pulling effort required is reduced if the victim can walk his feet up the rock or ice. Assisted Hoist The assisted hoist is simple and effective providing the victim is not more than one third of the rope’s length below the rescuer and is not physically incapacitated. It does not even require you to escape from the system if you are using a belay plate or other similar device. It does however require good communication between rescuer and victim, to ensure that all instructions are clearly understood. First the belay plate is locked off and a French prusik attached to the live rope below the plate. The French prusik is then clipped back into the belay karabiner, making sure that it is not so long as to move out of reach when under load. Take a bight of spare rope, clip a locking karabiner to it and lower or throw this to the victim who clips it to the knot loop or strong point on his harness. Under windy conditions it may be possible to slide the karabiner with its bight of rope down the tensioned rope to the victim. Ensure that there are no twists in the rope. Carefully unlock the belay plate and lower the victims weight onto the French prusik. You are now ready to hoist. The victim should be instructed to pull on the middle rope which is the only one that travels towards him, while the rescuer 7-5 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES pulls up on the third rope. Both the rescuer and the victim pull simultaneously, and if the victim can walk up the crag or the slope it can be a simple matter to hoist him up. The French prusik is held open by the belay plate as the first rope moves through it, and if a rest is needed, the victim can be lowered slightly until his weight is again taken by the French prusik. The prusik also acts as a back-up should the rescuer let go of the haul rope for any reason. See FIG:46. 7-6 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Fig 46: THE ASSISTED HOIST The victim pulls down on the middle rope which runs down to him and the belayer pulls up on the third rope 7-7 IMPROVISED RESCUE TECHNIQUES Unassisted Hoist Should you find yourself in a position where the victim is unable to offer any assistance, for example, if he is unconscious, or if there is insufficient rope available to perform an assisted hoist, it may be necessary for you to perform an unassisted hoist. These require a good deal of effort from the rescuer and strength plays an important part in the effectiveness and choice of hoist to be set up. Other factors such as load to be lifted, equipment available and the location of the lifting site will also play a part in the decision making. There are a number of ways of hoisting, however, the systems used in improvised rescue do not generally use pulleys and karabiners are used at each turn of the rope.

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