Looking For Advice: Desert Well Rescue

[wagabond]

What is the best method for extraction of injured personnel from a well, with minimal equipment, when there are no anchor points available?

I am currently serving in an extremely arid region of Afghanistan, and have been charged with creating my unit's SOP for rescue from wells, and other similar situations. The wells here are between 0.5m - 2m across, and up to 40+ meters deep (hard for us to tell when they are deeper than that!). They are also, sometimes, covered with thin plywood, and very hard to see at night. Hence the need for a plan.

The main issues arise from the wells' depth, and the fact that there is sometimes nothing at all around them to rig an anchor to. The surroundings are commonly dust, sand, and small scrub brush for hundreds of meters. In addition, any personnel down the well would likely have 100+lbs of gear on them, some of it easily removable, but some very hard in a tight space.

We are light infantry, so the equipment we carry is very limited. We have the ropes, webbing, and belaying/repelling gear, but nothing else very useful besides rucksack frames and Skedco litters (rolled up hard plastic).

I've had a few thoughts, but I am looking for fresh ideas.

Thanks

[Gooseberry]

it you have a backup litter or even a pack you can do a deadman anchor by burying it. not sure it would work for theweight of 2 and all the gear.

[rambrush]

For trench rescue etc they do make a tripod that the legs fit around the opening and you tie off in the center with a pulley for raising lowering etc. but for your situation you might have to round up some metal for legs etc that would work for these style wells bolt the center of the tripod together and make it a fold up design. I have seen a similar idea where off of the front bumper is a beam that they use for setting well pumps.

[kjp1969]

Most of the rescue rigs I've seen involve some sort of tripod set up over the hole upon which to winch without knocking debris down or collapsing the opening. Perhaps three 10-15' aluminum poles do not fit your criteria of "packing light," however.

78901

Do you have a vehicle with a winch available?

[wagabond]

Burying a spare litter as a dead man is definately a good idea, thanks Gooseberry. The Tripods are definately way to bulky and heavy for us, although a home made one from local resources is good possibility, if available. Unfortunately, this area of the country is amazingly short on wood, sticks, or metal.

[Xodius]

There are some items you can get through supply that can help you. The main part is a anchor system for base radio setups. It is a smaller anchor, generally 3 per set that are structural aluminum. They are light weight and can be quickly hammered into the ground and used as more or less a dead man. Not sure which branch you are in but some marine squads still use them. Come to think of it a buddy of mine in the army has them too. He is in the 10th Mtn. But I can't remember bat #.
The rods are about 30" long and an inch or so thick. I have also seen some that were more like a corkscrew but never found any info on them. I joked saying they looked like the old metal fence posts Germany used for barbed wire in WWI. Hope that helps.


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[BigAl]

I used to do a lot of stuff with rope rescue classes when I was into caving. Try this link http://www.karstworlds.com/2011/01/free-cave-rescue-manual-life-on-line.html or search single rope technique or cave rescue technique

[wagabond]

I think I know the stakes your talking about, Xodius, and I think our commo guys have a few. They may also have some that are a bit smaller, which could be the perfect solution, as long as the area's not too sandy. We could clip right into them with the safety lanyards on our belts.

BigAls book has a good little section on ground anchors, if I can find those stakes.

[groundpounder]

You might check with Indian Wells Valley Search and Rescue (with the Kern County Sheriff's Department SAR Team) for some ideas, they specialize in rescue/recovery from mine shafts and are considered the best in CA: http://www.kernsheriff.com/Volunteer/SearchRescue/Pages/default.aspx
Dispatch should be able to point you in the right direction, or at least let you talk to the Watch Commander, who should be able to get you in touch with the SAR Coordinator.

Kern County Sheriff's Office
1350 Norris Road
Bakersfield, CA 93308-2231

E-Mail addresses:
Sheriff Donny Youngblood
sheriff@kernsheriff.com

Phone Numbers:
Dispatch: (661) 861-3110
Sheriff's Headquarters: (661) 391-7500