RescueTripods Save Lives
Johnwas a 50 year-old farmer exploring parts of his land he did notnormally till while his wife was away for the weekend. The farm hadbeen in John's family for several generations yet there were parts ofhis property he had never seen before. So on a sunny Saturday morninghe was poking around in a field at the far end of the property.Unbeknownst to him, he was approaching an old well as he strolledback towards the house.
Inone step John went from an exhilarating morning of discovery tofalling into the well he never knew was there. After the initialshock wore off he realised he had broken an arm, a wrist, andpossibly even a rib. And the worst part was that no one would know hewas missing until his wife came home the following day. When his wifedid finally find him, John had been in the well for almost 28 hours.He was weak, cold, and in serious condition.
Asthe rescue crews arrived some 30 minutes later, one of the workerspulled an aluminium rescue tripod off the truck, laid down someconcrete slabs, and had the tripod ready to go in under threeminutes. The crew lowered a worker into the well to check on John'scondition and prepare him for extraction. It was a difficult rescuedue to the fact that John was not in good health and the well was soconfining. Nonetheless, the worker managed to secure John in astretcher and he was hoisted up using the rescue tripod and a winch.
Speedand Survival
Althoughspeed and survival are not always inexorably linked, in John's casethey were. Having been in the well for such a long amount of time hewas in grave danger of dying from hypothermia and shock. By gettingdown into the well and getting him up as quickly as possible rescueworkers were able to provide emergency medical care and get and Johnto the hospital. In this case, the speedy set-up of the rescue tripodproved invaluable.
RescueTripods not Always Practical
Becauserescuers had fairly level ground to deal with, using the tripod forJohn was pretty straightforward. But that's not always the case.Without level ground, or a way to properly balance the tripod,rescuers would've had to use a confined space rescue davit. Somerescue units have a truck mounted davit which makes using them muchsimpler. Others don't have the money for such specialised equipmentand must rely on installing a ground mount in order to use the davit.Since that takes more time, it's lucky for John that rescuers wereable to use the tripod.
Thanksto an alert wife and trained rescuers, John survived his experience;albeit with a few broken bones and some minor scratches. From now onhe will use caution when strolling on his land; he'll also carry hismobile phone whenever he leaves the house.