30 hours / 3 days
Pre-Requisites: Rope Rescue - Operations (Rope Rescue - Technician Preferred)
The Tower Rescue - Ops/Tech course expands on the skills developed in Rope Rescue - Technician
Tower Rescue requires students to demonstrate skills, knowledge, and techniques for environments requiring climbers to place personal protection prior to performing rescues.
The equipment used and the procedures required are necessary to safely and effectively coordinate technical rescue incidents in vertical unprotected environments.
Emphasis is placed on advanced small team techniques, rescue attendant skills, and problem-solving.
Practical Training Locations include: Bridges, Radio Towers and Tower Cranes.
Main Teaching Points
(As per NFPA 1006 and 1670 JPR's)
Awareness Level
- Recognize the need for technical rescue resources at an incident
- Establish scene safety zones, given an incident
- Identify and support an Operations or Technician-level incident
- Size up an incident
- Perform a tower rescue using an aerial truck or other similar equipment without ascending the tower
Operations Level
- Participate in a pre-rescue survey given a tower rescue preplan
- Isolate and manage exposure to potentially harmful energy sources found in erected structures
- Assess the integrity of the tower structure and related components
- Recognize, identify, and utilize typical fall protection and work positioning equipment used by climbers
- Perform an ascent using proper PPE and safe climbing technique equipment
- Perform transfer between the ladder or climbing peg safety system
- Access a victim in a tower environment according to the rescue preplan
- Perform removal of a victim suspended from rope
- Direct a team in the removal of a victim suspended from rope or webbing
- Develop and adhere to contingency plans for when inclement weather or other factors make operations-level response ineffective or dangerous to rescuers
- Terminate an incident
Technician Level
- Direct a tower rescue team
- Develop an incident action plan for a technician-level tower rescue incident
- Ascend a simulated or actual tower to conduct a technician-level rescue
- Perform a technician-level ground-based tower rescue
- Perform a technician-level tower-based rescue
Course Schedule
Day #1
- Lecture
- Fall Protection Overview
- Fall protection tools and equipment
- Y-Lanyards and Work Positioning
- Self Belay
- Lead Climb
- Bridge Climb
- Rescue Scenarios
Day #2
- Tower Climb
- Lead Climb
- Protection placement and cleaning
- Ground-based rescue
- Tower-based rescue
- Skate Blocks
- Tower Crane Lecture
Day #3
- Tower Crane Evolutions
- Tower Platform
- Operators Cab
- Counter Jib
- Jib
- Evaluation & Testing