CLEARLAKE OAKS — Northshore Fire Protection District (NFPD) hosted a low angle rope rescue training last weekend. The 24-hour course included the participation of 24 personnel hailing from districts in and out side of the county.
Classroom instruction and hands on rescue drills were conducted in Clearlake Oaks.
“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.”
Brown said that NFPD has responded to more than 12 rope rescue operations in past three years. He said the frequency of calls requiring low angle rope rescue operations is increasing as travel continues to increase on Highway 20 and into the Mendocino National Forest.
Participating personnel included 12 from NFPD, five from South Lake County Fire District (SLCFD), four from Williams Fire District and three from Kelseyville Fire District.
The California State Certified course was taught by senior instructor Ed Mestre, who is a retired battalion chief of Marin County. Adjunct instructors from Humboldt, Vallejo and Northshore fire districts also contributed to the training. 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.
“Sunday”s drill, conducted in a steep hill area was true life with cold temperatures with driving wind and rain,” Brown said. “On Friday, emergency personnel were pulled from the class to respond to a large auto accident with multiple injuries in Nice.”
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. OES Engine 359 supports operations in SLCFD.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
