Stone Door Training - March 10

With 60 degree angles (120 degree span), then you have equal forces, so 1 kN load gives you 1 kN of compression on the gin pole. The smaller those angles get the higher the compression, so if we kept pulling both the anchor side and load side of the green line down towards the foot of the gin pole we could eventually get a 2:1 ratio on it. Go above that 120 degree span and there would be less compression force.

60 degrees is a "golden angle" for a lot of things.

 

NFPA is outside our wheelhouse since we are more geared towards light and fast, not rolling up in the big red truck with all types of gear. Yes, we can teach the 1670 and 1006 standards and they're great standards but not for what we do. When you start talking 15:1 safety factors then it increases your load out for remote rescue by a lot of weight. We incorporate a lot of different techniques to maintain good safety factors with lighter equipment, such as twin tension systems, one person loads instead of 2 person loads (so all of our rescuers have to be climbers). Once you look at dividing your working load in half then your safety factor goes up with lighter, faster equipment. The gin pole pictured is designed for remote rescue. Something that is easily carried in by a small rescue team along with their standard load out and be able to get a rescue done with lighter gear. We are seeing a lot of rescue teams go towards this route and abandoning some of the NFPA standards. We're also seeing a trend for NFPA to start recognizing this type of rescue and I hear they are actually starting to write standards for it.

 

Semo, as a side note you had mentioned "certification." In the real world it really means nothing. The only authority that can certify you is the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) that you work for. Our team members and myself have numerous courses under our belts from folks like Rescue 3 International and other trainers but their certification means nothing unless the AHJ you work for recognizes their course. A lot of trainers will use NFPA 1670 and 1006 as their class basis but if they tell you they can certify you to those standards, it's BS unless the SAR team, Fire Dept, Rescue Squad, etc. that you work for actually accept that trainer's course as being their certifying standard. For example, I am "certified" as an advanced swift water rescue technician and rope rescue technician. I have plenty of documentation to prove I've done the coursework many times, but if I went to work for a fire department they would probably make me go through their program before they would certify me as a technician on their squad.

 

Good stuff, SEMO. Appreciate all you do!