Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center: Short Haul Wildland Firefighter EMS Extrication Rescue

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center: Short Haul Wildland Firefighter EMS Extrication Rescue

ROCK! Firefighter Extraction Success Story

Short haul: Is an emergency rescue tool meant to quickly get an individual out of a dangerous situation and place them in a safe location. Short haul involves a rescuer being lowered on a rope from a hovering helicopter, to a victim below. After the rescuer rigs a harness to the victim, or if injuries warrant, places the victim in a stokes litter basket, the helicopter lifts both to safety a short distance away.

CAL FIRE initiated a Short Haul Rescue program in 1997 to augment the Department’s all-risk emergency response role in California. All CAL FIRE helitack crews (about 180 personnel) completed short haul training by early July 1998.

Short haul training takes approximately 50 hours and combines hands-on and practical exercises with classroom training. Emphasis is placed on the need for teamwork between the pilot, crew chief, rescue supervisor and the rescuer who is lowered to the ground. Safety of the victim, as well as the ﬂight crew, is stressed throughout training. After passing the course, crew members must maintain their rescue certiﬁcation by demonstrating their skill level every three months.

CAL FIRE crews may only perform short haul rescues during daylight hours, in good visibility, after assessing the risk to the crew and the victim, and when no other timely method of rescue can be performed. The Department established this policy in recognition of the
high degree of risk associated with this type of rescue

operation.

Low Angle Rope Rescue Operations [LARRO]: Transporting a patient by lowering or raising them on slopes that range from 15 to 67 degrees, Low Angle Rope Rescue is utilized on any slope less than 55 degrees. Slopes over ninety degrees require High Angle Rescue.

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CFN - California Fire News 2013

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Saturday, May 11, 2013