Key Takeaways
- This article aims to provide an understanding of the basics of proper preplanning techniques.
- It discusses the importance of training and scheduling periodic drills and reviews the value of cooperative efforts to include local responders.
- Organizations that are developing in-house rescue procedures and purchasing the equipment to accomplish that task should consider the basic emergency management rescue team leadership skills laid out in this article that may not have been recognized or considered before taking on this task.
Professional first responders handle difficult crisis situations each day without allowing emotions or chaotic scenes to cloud their judgment. Decisions made during emergency situations require that skill set, and acquiring it often comes from years of experience and training. Increasing numbers of employees exposed to work at heights are being outfitted with personal fall arrest systems intended to provide protection after a fall but that frequently leave the employee in a vulnerable situation requiring the need for a prompt rescue. This vulnerable situation was outlined by Kolb and Smith (2015), who state, “It was originally believed that the support harnesses the individual wore created a tourniquet effect, compressing the lower extremity circulatory system, particularly the femoral vein, and causing sympathetic stress on circulation from the pain of a constrictive harness” (p. 49).
According to 29 CFR 1926.502(d)(20), “The employer shall provide for prompt rescue of employees in the event of a fall or shall assure that employees are able to rescue themselves.”
Some organizations develop in-house rescue procedures and purchase the equipment to accomplish that task. This article is intended as a guide to address some of the basic emergency management rescue team leadership skills that may not have been recognized or considered before taking on this task.
