Longwood Fire Company
LFC Volunteers assist with high angle rescue in Wallace Twp
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By 1st Lieutenant Brian McCarthy
April 6, 2014

As many of the LFC volunteers were sitting down to family Sunday dinner, the pagers went off for Station 72. While this may seem contradictory to most of you that know us as Station 25, Station 72 is the dispatch assignment for the Chester County Rescue Task Force. The Task Force is a group of specially trained fire fighters from various fire companies that join together to assist any fire department in Chester County that requires additional resources to complete a technical rescue. The Task Force is divided into specialized groups where one company acts as the group leader and several other companies act as support companies. For example, the Longwood Fire Company is the group leader for Confined Space Rescue. Other areas of Technical Rescue include Water Rescue, High angle rope rescue, Collapse rescue, Trench rescue and many others. The Longwood Fire Company is also part of the high angle rope rescue group and the water rescue group.

On Sunday April 6 at about 6 PM, the Glenmoore (Station 48) and East Brandywine (Station 49) Fire Companies were dispatched to the 700 block of Marshall Road for an other type rescue. Responding units were advised that an 18 year old male fell 50-60 feet from the top of a rock cliff overlooking the Cornog Quarry in Wallace Township. Chief 48 (J. Seese) arrived and determined the subject had actually fallen from a height of between 80-100 feet. After the subject fell, his friend swam across the quarry and tried to climb up the rock wall to reach him. Unable to do so, the second male became stuck approximately 50 feet from his friend. Chief 48 established the Cornoq Command and requested a boat and the Chester County Rescue Task Force to the scene. Boat 47-1 (Lionville) arrived and entered the quarry to access the patient. Finding him about 30 feet above the water line, the boat crew made verbal contact with both subject. The Task Force dispatch brought units from Longwood, Lionville (Station 47), Fame of West Chester (Station 53), Valley Forge (Station 68), and a medic from Berywn (Station 2) to the scene to assist in the rescue of the injured male.

Westwood (Station 44), East Brandywine (Station 49) and Longwood also brought their ATVs to facilitate getting equipment to where the rescue was going to take place. Rescue 25 and Utility 25 pulling the ATV arrived and loaded all their equipment onto the ATV, driven by FF/EMT/Engineer Mike Maurer. FF Maurer drove the ATV about 1/2 mile up Marshall Road before turning off onto a dirt road that ran behind the quarry. ATV25 made it about 3/4 of a mile into the woods before the brush was too thick for it to proceed on its own. The rest of the LFC members went ahead on foot working with ATV49 and their crew to clear a path for the ATV units to access the scene. The members were then joined by a crew from Lionville and assisted them by carrying their stokes basket full of equipment to the top of the rock cliff. All crews walked about 2 miles through brush and woods before reaching the rescue area. The crews then joined the other Task Force members from Lionville, Fame and Valley Forge who were setting up the lowering rope lines that would be used in the rescue. Once the Longwood members got the first round of equipment to the scene, they started the journey back to the hard road to meet ATV25 and retrieve the rest of the equipment.

After all of the necessary equipment made its way to the rescue area, FF Maurer and Chief 25 (A. McCarthy) spent the next hour using chainsaws to clear a wide path from the tree line to the scene of the rescue. This made getting additional equipment (flashlights, fuel, batteries etc.) to the scene much easier, especially after dark. The Lionville Fire Company members performed the actual rescue by lowering two of their members over the edge to gain access to the patient. A medic was also lowered to the patient, who advised that the patient had suffered a dislocated arm, fractured wrist and numerous cuts and bruises. Due to the extended time of the rescue and the possibility of hypothermia, Chief 48 requested a helicopter to the scene. The rescue crews made it to the patient and packaged him into a metal basket at approximately 8:40 PM. The patient was lowered to Boat 47 who carried him across the quarry to an ambulance from the Uwchlan Ambulance Corps (Station 87) who was waiting for him. They began patient care of the patient and transported him to the landing zone where a helicopter was waiting to take him to the Paoli Memorial Hospital.

Boat 47 then returned to the shoreline and retrieved the second patient who was uninjured. After he was transferred to another waiting ambulance, the boat crew went back a final time to retrieve the rescuers. Once they were on the boat ramp, the top side crews broke down the rope lowering systems and carried everything to the pick up area where ATV25 and ATV49 were waiting. The ATV units then carried all of the equipment and rescuers back to the vehicle staging area where the equipment was returned to their respective apparatus. Once everything was packed up, the LFC members made their way back to the first due. Crews returned to service around 1230 AM.

As the weather gets nicer, please remember that although outdoor activities can be alot of fun, they can also be very dangerous. This particular quarry was fenced off to keep people out because of its dangerous rock cliffs yet the patients went in anyway. Do not cross into any area marked No Trespassing or where a fence has been erected to keep others out- they are there for your safety!

Units: Rescue 25, Utility 25, ATV 25
 
Mutual Aid: Station 48, 49, 53, 47, 68, 44, 2.
 

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