Aerial rescue poll

Have you ever been called on to perform a aerial rescue? (CATS and DRONES don't count!)

  • Total voters
    26
KentuckySawyer

KentuckySawyer

Participating member
Location
Louisville
I'm curious about the frequency of instances requiring the aerial rescue a co-worker.

If you have performed a rescue, I'd be curious about...
-How many have you done?
-The general circumstances surrounding the event.
-How did it go?
-Were you prepared?

THANKS!
 
Cory I was on a job where my bee keeper entered a tree to exterminate some bees and hive.He was using SRT for the first time. In bee suit. He was going nicely then stopped. I encouraged him to advance a few more feet to reach the branch he needed to reach to accomplish his task. He got a couple more feet then went into full panic mode.he managed to remove a HAAS device and mistakenly removed chest harness first. He was now leaning back and foot stuck in footy. Screaming in panic and hyperventalating. I instantly went to my truck and got my harness and a wrench system lanyard etc....ascended on the retrieval side. Of canopy anchor. He is heavier than I.
 
Continued...... Then on reaching him I asked him to gently lift his leg a tad higher so I could disengage his footy. He was barely able to do so. I struggled til I freed it. Then I climbed a bit higher till I could nestle in a branch with my lanyard. Came off my system. He could then descend back down which he was very happy to do....he went down FAST and layed on the ground. Exhausred. I then got everything setup for me to tie back in. Got the spayer sent up and killed the hive. Bees were wild by then. He was fine after some water and air conditioning.
 
Man nearly got a heart attack. I was licky to have been there. Well hey he was never going to get in the tree without me...he will never do that again. I will deal with those jobs now.
 
Question for you folks that have had real aerial rescue training;
Do poles / pole saws/ wire raising hooks have any place in AR?
Just thinking that in the event of an unconscious climber, one could get the wire raiser hook above the climber's friction hitches and lower the person. Pole saw or pruner head could cut a plain rope lanyard. Just thinking if the person is actually in range, like under 40' this could be a fast and safe way to get them down.
 
I thik if you have a lowerable base anchor cutting the lanyard with a pole pruner would be alright, if you can ensure you don't cut the climber or he swings into the saw blade. Using a hook for a friction hitch would probably work, I don't know how comfortable I would be with that...
 
climbstihl said:
I thik if you have a lowerable base anchor cutting the lanyard with a pole pruner would be alright, if you can ensure you don't cut the climber or he swings into the saw blade. Using a hook for a friction hitch would probably work, I don't know how comfortable I would be with that...
Click to expand...
No snd no. Get ta fuck up there and do a proper pick off. Too many things can go wrong with those scenarios. As fof lowerable basal tie you better gave training in that type of system or shit could get nasty quick. Most incidents will have climber with his lanyard on anyway. Do there is that to think about.
 
swingdude said:
No snd no. Get ta fuck up there and do a proper pick off. Too many things can go wrong with those scenarios. As fof lowerable basal tie you better gave training in that type of system or shit could get nasty quick. Most incidents will have climber with his lanyard on anyway. Do there is that to think about.
Click to expand...
that's why I said to cut the lanyard with the saw before using the lowerable anchor, but I agree it's generally better to just get up there.
 
Those that have performed an aerial rescue, how did it go?

Did the victim survive/recover?

Did you feel prepared for the task?

Did you practice rescue scenario's before the rescue?

Do you practice scenario's actively now?

Thanks for your insights!
 
Long story to type out

Got to clients house to bid a cut and run elm removal
Client on ground buddy up in the tree using long ladder and nailed on steps
Climber was wearing a waist belt and lanyard
THey decided they were going to do the work themselves...I walked back to my car on the street.
Looked over garage as the saw started. Saw a portion of the tree slide down not tip away...knew the climber made a salami cut and the portion above him swept him instead o tipping away.
Heard screams...couldn't see because garage was in the way
Ran back...busted the garage to kitchen door open and told the lady to call 911..I knew it wasn't going to be good. grabbed a pile of towels
out the garage...climber was struggling to down climb.
I scurried up the ladder as he downclimbed the cleated steps nailed to the tree.
We met at the top of the ladder.
All I could do was to keep him on the ladder and upright...his butt was pushed out and I was afraid he'd tip off the ladder
Talked and walked him down the ladder
As I was going up the ladder I told groundie to go to the street to flag down ambulance.
Ambulance arrived quickly
I'd gotten the guy on the ground...done an assessment...didn
t seem all busted up..whewwwww
Helped emts do a body lift onto backboard...and they left

A day or so later I realized I dropped my sunglasses so I called back to see if they found them...and get update

climber got a cut on the back of his head...little bleeding so I didn't find it...and bruised his left shoulder.

When I got there to get my sunglasses I asked if they wanted a price to cut and run.

Nope...climber guy was coming back the next week to finish.

I was about to say something...stopped myself..and walked away.

There's nothing I would change. I'd had a couple of First Responder certs and did what I could...not much...EMT's appreciated that I'd done an assessment. KNowing how to help do a cradle and back board transfer

My stance on aerial rescue is that everyone should enroll in a First Responder or equal class wayyyy before spending any time doing tree rescue classes. Arbos know how to rig...we do it all of the time. How many arbos can do a proper victim assessment? How do you do proper First Aid in the tree? FA is much more important than transport.
 
Interesting that the two stories relayed thus far involve professional climbers rescuing a weekend warrior and a total novice.

I’m interested in the real frequency of rescues occurring at companies with safety/training programs. Assuming they’re less common, and interested in how the scenarios would differ.

Thanks
 
So true Tom. Life threats need to be recognized and dealt with immediately otherwise you just brought a body out of the tree as fast as you could. Even after being a Paramedic for 27 years i'll still tell you, Paramedics rarely save lives with fancy stuff. Basic life support saves life and if you can't recognize when stuff not normal then the victim is gonna die no matter how fast you get them down
 
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