CLEARLAKE OAKS — Emergency rescue responders from local districts and beyond recently gained certification in low angle rope rescue. Twenty-four emergency responders participated in the 24 hour class, which was hosted by Northshore Fire Protection District, Dec. 5 through 6 out of the Clearlake Oaks station.
“A rope rescue is when we set main lines, or “Z” rigs, and pull a patient up a hill in a stokes liter,” NFPD Battalion Chief Pat Brown said. “These calls are low frequency but high risk that requires a lot of training.”
The California State Certified course was taught by Senior Instructor Ed Mestre, who is a retired battalion chief from Marin County. Adjunct instructors from San Francisco Fire, Novato Fire and NFPD also contributed to the training. Participants spent several hours in the classroom learning the techniques including proper knot tying. They then headed to High Valley where they applied the skills.
“We often respond to those types of situations where we have used all those tools. These types of training courses provide an opportunity for our personnel to gain experience with the equipment before they have to use it in the field,” Brown said. “Northshore FPD has responded to more than 10 rope rescue call in the last three years. These types of calls are increasing in our area. We are getting a lot more people traveling up Highway 20 and into the Mendocino National Forest who are getting themselves into these situations.”
Brown said that a check list is maintained to ensure minimum training requirements are met at all times while courses such as this are held twice a year to ensure certification is up-to-date. “We are sending more personnel to the more advance classes, too,” he said. “We are trying to get more people become instructors.”
Rope rescue operations are supported in the NFPD by Rescue 7511, a state-of-the-art medium OES rescue vehicle that was recently purchased and donated by Redbud Health Care District. “Rescue 7511 is one of only a few in Lake County fully equipped for this kind of rescue,” Brown said.
The 24-member class included the participation of 12 personnel from NFPD, eight from South Lake Fire Protection District, three from Maxwell Fire District and one from Lakeport fire. Brown said the NFPD now has 16 members certified in the California State Fire Training program.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
