In this episode, “Training To Perform Under Pressure” instructor, Adam Ritsch gives an overview of “knowing your weapon” when it comes to the roof ladder.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:
What’s kind of unique about that straight ladder or the roof ladder?
Hooks on both ends, and you’ve got the butt spurs on both ends, right? Really, really nice.
It’s, it’s bi-directional at that point. Doesn’t matter which way it’s facing, you can do whatever the task is. And the other cool part about it is it balances out the weight to the ladder. So if you only have hooks on one end, it always, the center point is off just a little bit, right? So this makes it nice and, uh, bi-directional and evens out that, that pivot point for us.
How many people can we have on an extension ladder?
Two. One per section.
One per section is what? Like if Store or Jones and Bartlett tells you right.
Can I fight back on that a little bit if I know a little bit more about my ladder? Absolutely. Because what’s this ladder rated for? Anybody know?
So 750 pounds, but that’s also with a four to one safety factor added onto it.
Can I put more than one person on one section if need be? Here’s the other kind of silly part that tell you only one person per section, but if we’re doing a victim rescue with this thing, how many people automatically have to be on one section?
Two right off the bat, right? So. It gives me some leverage.
If someone says, Hey man, you can’t put two people on that fly section. No, I can. I’m well within what this ladder is rated for, right?
So knowing some of the numbers and figures and specifications seems kind of minuscule and silly, but it gives me a little bit of leverage to fight back if need be, right? It gives me some teeth.
The hooks are rated at a thousand, or they’re tested at a thousand pounds each. Gotta figure they’re gonna share the load typically, right? It’s either either gonna be both hooked onto the um, ridge line of a roof or onto a window sill. It gives us about 2000 pounds also, well within ratings for two people, right?
Is anybody previous military or current military?
You have to know your weapon all the way, right? You had to be able to take it apart, put it back together, clean it, know the specifications about it, know how to use it, know how to operate it, it mattered, right? That was your job. This is our job.
This is our tool, our weapon, right? So why that matters is it gives me some teeth, it gives me some leverage to be able to fight back on some things if need be.
* The training views expressed in this video are those of the training instructors, and not Fire Spotlight. The actions in this video are inherently dangerous and could result in death; should the viewers choose to adopt any views expressed in this video, he/she is doing so at his/her own risk. Fire Spotlight encourages viewers to review his/her department’s Standard Operating Procedures when adopting any new training views.