• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 1 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 0 )

• 

Firefighters practice their helicopter hoist rescue skills during a drill yesterday afternoon. Photo courtesy of SB County Fire Department

Cube Ad

Firefighters practice helicopter hoist rescue

By DAILY SOUND STAFF — Feb. 4, 2010

County firefighters practiced their helicopter rescue techniques during a drill yesterday involving a mock patient who fell 150 feet from a cliff to the beach below.

Rescue crews staged the drill scenario along southbound Highway 101 near Vista Point yesterday afternoon, and passing motorists may have seen several fire engines and the county’s rescue helicopter in the area.

After firefighters made their way to the injured hiker, they determined the best course of action would involve hoisting the victim to the helicopter rather than use a rope operation to bring the patient back to the roadway.

After lowering a firefighter from the helicopter to the ground, crews placed the hiker in a rescue basket. The patient was hoisted into the helicopter and flown to the hospital while receiving treatment from firefighters.

Fire officials noted the hoist operation took just 15 minutes, compared to the often-lengthy process of setting up a land-based rope rescue system.

Comment on this article

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

only several minutes... : 2/4/2010

and several thousands dollars wasted on a mock patient....it's a drill dummy, try a little extra practice before you take the easy way out. Tell your crew the helicopter crashed in route...!

Boycott Boy

---