Aerial rescue/Access lines??

[Rupe]

If your on a SRT line that is tied of at the base you just let the grounds man belay you down from the tree. Far quicker than waiting for him to climb and rescue you.

 

As long as your not lanyarded in! And as you should be lanyarded when using a saw, any chainsaw related injuries have a high likely hood that the lanyard will be attached. Relying on this method is not a good idea.

 

Additionaly, you could also lower the injuried climber into a fork and make further rescuing harder.

[Mesterh]

Hi,

 

Just wondering who has access lines in the tree whilst working in case of an emergency and from what size tree? (ie anything above 10m)

 

I work in a 2man crew and im the main climber and groundy has climbing kit but isnt a very competant climber,and i wouldnt trust him to rescue me tbh,

Company is all about health and saftey,have mentioned my concerns to foreman,

 

What should i do,my life on the line??

 

Probably the best you can do imo is to make sure you always have your line nice and tidy for a very quick descent.

 

A groundie with just a ticket is next to useless imo. Anyone who really needs rescuing is probably going to be dead by the time they get their kit on never mind getting safely out to the injured climber.

 

An installed access line is a good idea but one that I have never seen put in practice.

[Lyndon]

I think if you are at all concerned then there is a big flag saying your rescuer is not upto the job!

 

The solutions are this;

 

1. Ask your boss to take time to train the other guy up so you are happy to work with him as a rescuer.

 

2. if your boss says no and you are actually worried about his ability then train him yourself on the weekends or in work when time permits.

 

3. Work somewhere else, you can always earn more money while you are alive with all your limbs, its much harder if you loose one!

 

Its a rough position to be in best of luck and i hope it gets sorted with minimal hassle for you!

[Taupotreeman]

One of my ex bosses said as a last resort just to fell the tree the injured climber was in. Not sure how that one would go down with the locals.

[atree]

Thanks for the reply angus.

 

Will just install rescue line,better than nothing,or get myself down.

[browncow]

Although not always feasible you can also work DRT off SRT line tied off at base. Then you can also be lowered out of the tree (hopefully). This is often not practical though, especially in rigging situations where it can get messy having all these ropes to look after. I have spent way too much time being the only climber (and also the only person sometimes) on-site and as mentioned above, sometimes the best you can do is have the tail of your rope clean and tidy ready for an emergency descent. Cheers.

[atree]

Brown cow,

 

How do you work drt tied off at the base of the tree?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

On the BIG ones I put a line in, but I havent much confidence in my groundies for a rescue.

 

The only way I would feel confident is to have a second FULL climber, this would reduce fatigue and risks by default as you would both take some heat of eachother, say one takes over after lunch.

 

Two good climbers is the way forward IMO

[DrewB]

Hey Adam, I think browncow is meaning an inline anchor off an srt line.

Personally I try and have the srt line left as the access line only. It gives me a little bit of confidence on big trees knowing that some sort of access is available for any potential rescue, though if it starts getting in the way of rigging lines etc I'll remove it.

[browncow]

Yep, inline anchor on SRT. Pain in the arse on a lot of jobs but if your ground-crew has no climbing gear/climbing skill at least they can lower you out (maybe).