Learning the ropes

Ryan White, above and Mike Griswald, at right, practice their skills as part of the technical rope rescue team of the Stanwood-Camano Fire Department. Stanwood-Camano Fire Department’s technical rope rescue team spent last Tuesday honing their skills inside the water tower on Lincoln Hill.

Led by Bill Bothel, the team practiced rigging rescue gear and lowering a “victim” through the concrete shaft.

Bothel said the team builds a 10:1 safety factor into their systems, which are always backed up. The practice familiarizes members with the procedures, so they are second nature in an emergency.

The firefighters practice outdoors as well, often at Mt. Eerie, which has solid granite, or on Camano Island’s generally loose bluffs.

Levon Yengoyan, assistant chief of Camano Island Fire and Rescue, said the rope rescue team has been around for about 10 years, but is currently being revamped.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH O’HAGAN | STANWOOD/CAMANO NEWS New members and advancements in gear have given the department an opportunity to refocus some core technical rescue skills, Yengoyan said, including ropes, marine rescue and vehicle recovery operations.

Bothel said the rope team, in particular, has been able to borrow technique and equipment from the alpine climbing world, which the firefighters then rebuild to their higher strength ratios.

Yengoyan said the firefighters get several calls per year that require rope skills, but the benefits of the training transfer to more generic calls as well.

An example, Bothel said, is setting up basic fall protection for firefighters working the edge of structures, or on elevated surfaces.

Yengoyan and Bothel both said they’re pleased to have paramedic Ryan White as a recent addition to the rope team.

“To be able to send a paramedic directly into a rope-rescue situation is a real benefit,” Bothel said.

Staff Reporter Jeremiah O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext. 125 or ohagan@scnews.com.