Cincinnati, OH — ///EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT and ‘All Terrain Res-Q’ (ATR) off-road rescue patient transport trailers has a new one rescuer emergency loading option designed for use in hazardous areas. Developed in cooperation with the US Army National Guard’s 73RD Civil Support Team in Topeka, Kansas, the idea for the device was originally shared with us by Captain Matt Yates, PA.
“In the event that one soldier goes down in a contaminated environment, we need a way to quickly load the fallen soldier from the ground onto the rescue trailer by the surviving member of a two person survey team.”
The problem was brain stormed by Dick Jenney, EW&F, the ATR’s inventor and patent holder, and Mike Brady of ///EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT. After a few efforts, the ‘WAVE’ (“Winch Assisted Victim Evacuation”) loading device was born. The ‘WAVE’ allows a single rescuer to load a victim from the ground to the rescue trailer with minimal effort expended. Operation of the ‘WAVE’ device is depicted in the four images below.
The rescuer simply roles the fallen team member into a basket litter. Then the hand operated winch strap is deployed and attached to the foot end of the litter. The rescuer cranks the winch handle to retract the strap until the litter is lifted to the height of the a guide bar at the rear of the trailer.
At first, we thought the rescuer would have to lift the foot end of the litter to the guide bar. However, after the prototype was built we found that the 2" wide winch strap uses the guide bar to change the direction of the pull and lifts the litter right up to the correct loading height.
Once completely on board, the litter is secured to the rescue trailer with two ratchet belts as always. The hook from the winch strap remains in place for extra safety as the single rescuer now becomes the vehicle operator.
The rescuer / vehicle operator literally does a ‘Load & Go’ as the fallen team member is hauled out of the hazardous area to a decontamination site for decon prior to receiving medical attention.
In August 2008, the USARNG’s 73RD Civil Support Team ordered their first All Terrain Res-Q Trailer. One month later, they ordered a ‘WAVE’ loading device to complete the mission described above.
Presently, a rescue ATV with ‘ATR’ trailer equipped with a ‘WAVE’ loading device is being demonstrated to HAZMAT teams and WMD / MCI response agencies throughout the Midwest. For more information on ‘ATRs’ or the ‘WAVE’ loading device, contact Mike Brady of ///EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT by telephone at: 859-359-4502, or by email at: EEResQ@cs.com.
Please be SAFE out there!