Practice Makes Perfect – Pole Top Safety Training
To the passerby on Four Corners Road the scene must look strange: A line truck bucket some 40-feet in the air with a human form dangling below it like a plumb bob by the top of its head.
Comical as it may look at a glance, this annual training is an essential part of keeping JPUD line crew fresh on field rescue techniques.
Weighing in at 175lbs, the live-weight dummy (when strapped to the pole or just sitting around) presents a very realistic challenge for line crew. As teammates look on, each line crew member must ascend the pole, rig a block and tackle setup to the pole crossarm, secure the “injured” dummy, safely cut the harness attachment, then instruct crew below to carefully belay to the ground.
Sounds simple in theory, but the reality is far different. Being 25 feet in the air, slightly swaying on a pole with the summer sun beating down on you and a life-size mannequin pressed tightly on one side, things can get complicated.
There’s also a first (and equally important) step to the entire drill: Before they even begin digging their gaffs (the fancy name for the spikes on their climbing rig) into the pole they must look a teammate in the eyes and say, “You, call 9-1-1.” Seems simple, but in reality once that unmoving replica is on the ground having first responders enroute can mean the difference between life and death.
