TIME FOR A NEW RESCUE LITTER? How We Went About Choosing a Litter and a Review of What We Bought

Buying a new litter for your Rope Rescue Team is a big expenditure for most volunteer SAR organizations. Before you’re stuck with a litter that doesn’t perform well under YOUR normal operations, I recommend doing good research.

My older litter is a soft, roll-up Traverse Rescue (available from CMC). Nothing is really wrong with it. I will continue to use it for certain operations. However, under certain conditions that I regularly face, it has these issues:

1. Using it during winter operations can be a problem, because it doesn’t dry quickly after using it in wet snow. Even more concerning, the litter will freeze up when the temperatures drop and this seems to be very hard on some of the non-load bearing stitching. So far, it is mostly a cosmetic issue and critical load-bearing stitching doesn’t appear to be affected.

2. Obviously, with roll-up litters, when you have few available rescuers, spine protection can be tricky. Let’s face facts, you never know how many volunteers are going to turn out for a call. You might have to drag that litter up a rocky hillside with just one attendant to make sure it doesn’t flip over or get snagged.

Time to find out what I could get that would work better in winter and/or with few available rescuers. I checked online to see what is available. I need a litter to be relatively light, have two-piece construction, be suitable for low and high angle operations, and last (but not least) be durable. Of course, I like word of mouth advertising. So, I always ask organizations, “How do you like your litter? What types of operations has it been used for?” I appreciate an honest opinion. I’m a little skeptical when I hear all pros and no cons

Looking at pictures on websites isn’t enough; I need to handle equipment to get a feel for whether it’s what I want. Cascade Rescue ended up first on my list to check out. Not only did several organizations speak highly of their products, their location in Sandpoint, Idaho is only a few hours’ drive from my place in Northwest Montana. So, I made an appointment to see them. Time well spent! The folks at Cascade Rescue were very accommodating. They not only knew their own products well, they were able to talk in depth about other products. After seeing their litters and accessories up close…

I bought Cascade Rescue’s Advanced Series Model 200 with lift handles, base pad, and skid bars on the bottom—after getting approval from North 40 Rescue’s business manager. Like me, you will probably need to justify your need for a new litter to someone in your organization who controls the money. Be ready to answer the hard questions to justify your requirements.

What I Like about the Advanced Series Model 200

The lift handles. If carry-outs or low angle rescues are on your proficiency list, I highly recommend this accessory. In a recent training event, the handles allowed two attendants to lift a loaded litter high enough to clear obstacles and keep the litter from plowing snow. The push pins and splined couplers allowed for quick (less than 15 seconds), independent adjustments on each side. The ability to

independently adjust each side is really useful when you have a 5-foot-tall attendant on one side of the litter and the other side has one who is 6-feet-tall. We didn’t have to waste time sizing hand loops to get an even lift.

Another strong selling point is the litter’s attachment points—bushings around the main support bar with a carabineer eyelets that swivel 360 degrees around the bar.

Most of the steel or titanium litters have a fixed eyelet that can easily cross load when tension is put on the main line. We used the front two eyelets for our low angle set up and routed the harness under the lift handle supports, which easily kept the litter from snow plowing. We also used the litter for a couple

of guide line set ups and the results were still very good. We actually tried to make it cross load, but it adjusted itself into the long axis of the carabineer.

Getting to the rescue site. We rigged a Conterra-brand harness on the front attachment points routed under the lift handles and used the litter as a gear sled to get all the equipment to the site. It pulled and tracked very well, but the skid protection bars on the bottom make it a little difficult with tight turns. Not a big deal.

What We Do Not Like about the Advanced Series Model 200

Sharp edges (Okay, I’ll be fair and say “less than round” edges)

1. The stays that connect the bottom of the litter to the main support bar will cause wear on your harness after a few low angle rescues or pulling a sled for a while. You might ask, “So, why did you rig it that way?”

• The litter did not pull as well when hooked directly into the front attachment points. • During low angle work, the litter tended to snow plow without routing it under the front

support. 2. The top edge of the fiber glass would be better with rubber trim.

However, some Gorilla tape will keep those edges from being problems in the future.

Portability and weight. This litter is not my first choice if I need to be off-trail in rough terrain or thick vegetation (unless I can pull it through snow) for any extended distance. However, Cascade Rescue offers accessories to improve portability that I haven’t tried yet:

• A single wheel attachment that uses a modified, light-weight fat tire bike wheel • Pull handles for use as a sled

Patient retention straps. These seemed a bit on the light side to me. Also, I wish they included a foot strap to keep a smaller patient from sliding all the way to the bottom of the litter. The straps did work well for low angle and guide line systems. Since the strap rails run from head to toe, it probably won’t be a big issue for me to add foot and head-stabilizing straps to the litter.

Center skid alignment. Finally, for our OCD friends, the center skid did not line up exactly with the front support stay. This has absolutely no affect on the litters’ performance, but it will probably drive your perfectionist friends crazy. However, that can be a nice distraction to keep them from complaining about something else. Distract and execute!

Summary

Overall, I recommend the Cascade Rescue Advanced Series Model 200 Litter. It worked very well for low angle rescue, guide line systems, and haul-outs. Team members that were unfamiliar with the litter quickly learned how to adjust the handles and various ways to rig the litter for different systems. If you have ever been involved with a two-attendant low angle rescue or a haul-out, you will be very happy with this litter’s handle system. In a group ranging from beginner-level to several years’ experience, comments about this litter were 98% favorable.

What’s next for us? Stay tuned for GPS training tips and vertical haul system evaluations of our new litter.