Vertical rescues: Geneva firefighters train for rescues in high, low places

Kelly Hunecke was all fastened up with a harness around her shoulders, waist and thighs, a protective helmet on her head, attached to a pulley anchored to a three-ton truck’s bumper, and – alley oops! – she dropped over the edge of the roof of Geneva‘s parking structure, 40 feet high.

She was lowered down, holding onto two nylon ropes, her hands protected by special gloves, dangled upside down for a bit, then was lowered the rest of the way.

Moments later, she rejoined the group.

How was it?

“It was good,” Huneke said. “It was fun.”

This exercise on Tuesday, May 13, was hardly fun and games, but a serious rappelling training exercise for the Geneva Fire Department.

“The whole department is going to participate,” Special Teams Coordinator and Battalion Chief Mike Benz said. “We do this drill three times a month at different times so we can catch people ... from their nine-to-five jobs, evenings, and there’s a morning drill and a night drill.”

The training is necessary not only to stay sharp for technical rescues, but for annual certifications, Benz said.

They use the training to also prepare for incidents that may also occur outside Geneva when they assist other departments.

“We do this training for people that would be stuck in a grain bin silos. Any kind of window washer or industrial accidents where someone is below grade,” Benz said. “There’s not a lot in Geneva, but we go to Elburn and do a drill once a year for people who fall into the corn inside the grain bin.”

This training covers rescues that go up and down, but also horizontal, he said.

“We also use this kind of stuff for what we call a slope evacuation – meaning grades going down or going up,” Benz said. “Say somebody’s not where they’re supposed to be, we need to get them either from below or above.”

The special harness that firefighter recruit Hunecke used is called a three-point harness. That means it goes over the shoulders and around the legs, providing one more point of safety than a two-point harness that just goes around the waist and legs.

“If you went upside down, then your hips and your legs would slide right out, so you have to get the shoulders secure there,” Benz said of the difference between the two-point and three-point harness.

As for the two nylon ropes that Hunecke is holding on to, one is red, one is blue, part of a twin tension clutch system.

“We are splitting the weight of the load we are lowering or raising,” Benz said. “So we have two separate ropes here, instead of putting all the weight on one rope.”

The red and blue ropes are to identify them by color if there is something wrong with one, he said.

“Honestly, when you have confidence in the equipment, you really don’t feel out of place after a couple times,” Benz said.

Though it is called rappelling, the true lowering and lifting for Hunecke and all the others is handled by a team of four to seven firefighters operating the pulley secured to the truck, Benz said.

One serves as the edge attendant – in this case, it’s Lt. Andrew Shad – who instructs going up or down or upside down.

Fire Chief Michael Antenore also participated in the training – and it was his first time.

“It was easy,” Antenore said.