In the picture above, Engineer/Paramedic Brian Rowe and other firefighters prepare a victim to be lowered to the ground, who fell from a height of 60 feet to a height of 30 feet.  Firefighter/Paramedics on the ground are waiting to stabilize and transfer the patient to Meducare, the responding helicopter for transport to the Medical University of South Carolina.

Assistant Chief David A. Greene (dgreene@colletoncounty.org) - (843) 539-1960 extension 222

High/Low Angle Rescue

Colleton County Fire-Rescue's TRT is trained and equipped to extricate patients from areas above grade and below grade using ropes and accessories as raising and lowering systems.  The rope is 1/2" Static Kermantle rated at 9000 lb. tensile strength,  8mm Prusik and 1" flat webbing rated at 4000-6000  lb. tensile strength.  The TRT is also equipped with a variety of extrication devices.

Operations

TRT responds to high and low angle rescues for the purpose of extricating the patient. 

• In the spring of 1993, a patient was extricated from a height of over 200' from a radio tower. 

• In the fall of 1995, a skydiver missed the airport by approximately 2.5 miles and parachuted into a 100 foot tree in a residential neighborhood.  Although unhurt, it took close to an hour to extricate the patient to the ground.

• Several times a year, TRT must assemble a low angle rescue system to extricate patients from areas below grade off of limited access highways, etc.