*** New South Wales Vertical Rescue (Australia) Courses ***

The New South Wales - NSW - State Emergency Service has a training package
in Vertical Rescue. It is in three qualifications in line with the State
Rescue Board standards.

V1 standard is a 29 hour course based on "basic" haul and lower system.
1:1 or 2:1 MA. SRT rigging, etc. Includes day and night exercises. At one
stage the intention was for all general land rescue units to be V1
qualified (I'm not sure what happened to that...).

V2 is a standard not supported by SES.

VM (Vertical Mobility) is a 29 hour course teaching vertical mobility
skills (abseiling, prusiking, and lots of nasty edges, knot passes and
changeovers), SRT rigging, etc. Of course, day and night exercises
including industrial and tower as well as cliffs.

V3 is a 30 hour course covering reversible safeties, advanced haul
systems (Z-rig, bolt ons, multiplying, etc), abseil assists (single
rescuer rescues), and helicopter winching (theory only... bummer!). Once
again it includes day and night exercises, including industrial and tower
as well as cliffs. Requires VM as a prerequisite.

We tend to run each of these courses as two full weekends each to try to
get as much time on rope as possible.

Vertical Rescue Instructors need the V3 qualifications plus "considerable"
experience and qualifications in "Instructional Techniques" (another 30
hours). All Vertical Rescuers and Instructors have to keep a log book to
"prove" their "considerable" experience. It does come in handy though on a
"Coroner's job" when your trying to remember details in court 12 months
after the fact...

While I was preparing this post, I began to wonder about what
prerequisites others have for their technical/high angle courses?
We require:
First Aid (1 weekend)
Introduction to Disaster Rescue (1 weekend)
Disaster Rescue (3-4 weekends)
Then either V1, or VM and V3 depending on the standard being sought.

So what pre-requisites do you have on your technical/high angle courses?
We are all volunteers: fortunately the cost of our courses is commensurate
with our rate of pay - free... (apart from the occasional sense of
frustration that goes with being a volunteer...)

BTW, the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association also run ALVRI courses
(Australian Lightweight Vertical Rescue I???? - I'm never sure of the
last word - maybe Instruction?). Never having done it I don't know much
about it.

Alan Sheehan
Oberon State Emergency Service
New South Wales
Australia
E-mail: als@ix.net.au
or AlanS@obe.woodpanels.csr.com.au
All opinions are my own so don't blame anyone else...

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