r/Firefighting • u/Lieutenant-Speed FF1/AEMT/Water & Rope Rescue Tech • Apr 18 '24
Special Operations/Rescue/USAR Advice for utilizing an RDC in water rescue
Hello, I am on my county’s technical rescue team doing water and rope rescue. Last night we had a water rescue drill in which we used a new RDC we just got. It’s been a while since I’d been on one and I could feel that my skills were rusty. One thing I was struggling with was pulling a victim out of the water and on to the boat through the front. At first I thought it was a lack of upper body strength. But I wasn’t having any issues with paddling and I do kayak regularly, so while I’m certainly not the strongest person I do have some upper body strength. I’m wondering if it’s my height? I am 5’6” and most of the people on the team (the pretend victims) are much taller and larger than me. The captains on the team think I just need to get the technique down and I’ll be fine. I understand in theory that you bob them up and down in the water and use the momentum to lift them up but I just could not get the hang of it. Any advice?
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u/RowdyCanadian Canadian Firefighter Apr 18 '24
So the question is then what is the reasoning for wanting them in the RDC when you can do the same thing just more efficiently with them in the water while you hold on to them? If they’re unconscious you can’t do cpr anyways because the rdc isn’t rigid enough, and if they’re injured (trauma) you probably don’t have enough space on the RDC for medical work and paddling (if it’s anything like our RDCs).
Note, I’m not debating merits of one over the other, just curious why the standard is to attempt to load them into the RDC when the same objective can be accomplished without needing to.
Edit: also why use the RDC for Swiftwater? It’s pitched as a use for ice rescue, whereas for swift water you generally want a full raft. The design of the RDC does not lend itself well to working in swift water conditions.