Writers Police Academy

KN, p. 221 “The Stokes Basket Rescue Method”

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A Stokes basket is a metal wire (or plastic) litter used by First Responders in difficult terrain.

 

Originally designed by Charles Francis Stokes, a Navy Surgeon General in the early 20th century, these baskets have been updated to keep pace with our changing requirements. Once used primarily in mountainous areas with transport occurring on the backs of donkeys and horses, the appearance of helicopters on the historical scene expanded the ways in which rescues could be conducted.


After the person’s immediate first aid needs are tended to, he/she is fastened into the litter, and then the litter can be moved. In my own case, I had a ski accident that included a deeply lacerated arm. I was dripping blood onto the snow, but since I didn’t ordinarily need poles to ski, I thought I could ski down the rest of the mountain to the First Aid Station on my own, holding the injured arm in front of me.


Wiser heads than mine prevailed. The mountain rescue team wrapped my arm, lowered me into a Stokes basket, and strapped me in. I was towed about a half mile across a mogul field by a pair of guys from the Ski Patrol. It was a bumpy ride over that mogul field, but there was no other way to get me down to the waiting ambulance.


I was towed behind skis, but snowmobiles, horses, and ATVs have all been employed to
get the injured through the woods or hill country.

 

StokesSuspendedWith specially attached ropes and in limited situations, people can be also be lifted to safety by helicopter. Natural disasters sometimes cut people off from ground transportation, so people have been airlifted out of wildfires or flooded areas without the helicopter ever having to set down. Somebody on the ground helps the injured person get into the basket, attaches it to the pulley system, and then the helicopter takes them to safety. The photo shows the same Stokes basket (with demo dummy) and the single rope leading to the tie-down spot.

 

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The view of the underside of the six-foot Stokes basket reveals the mesh insert that keeps the patient’s limbs from falling through the open steel frame. In addition, the dark blue insert provides some comfort and support to the upper body.

 

Stokes baskets are also used to rescue victims from confined spaces, like caves or collapsed buildings. I recently discovered that some baskets used in surface water rescue have floats attached. If used in mountain rescue, the litters might come with a lid/cover to either protect the person from falling rocks or keep the patient from falling out, should it tip.


Design improvements have included using multiple attachment points, separate hold-down cables, and powered extension hoists. The multiple attachment points can prevent the basket from spinning while being transported by helicopter. Powered hoists can be valuable during steep terrain rescues and/or if there is not enough manpower onsite to do the heavy lifting. The U.S. Navy has used the Stokes basket to transport patients through narrow corridors and doorways.

 

StokesBearClawStokesBrakeBarRackDSC_0111

 

 

 

The close-up shot of the ‘bear claw’ shows the holes at the bottom through which the carabiners and ropes are attached; the other ends secured at the Stokes basket. The ropes attached to the vehicle that supplies the lifting power are secured at the top of the ‘bear claw.’

On the right: the rope is wound through the brake bar rack to more securely anchor the rope to the vehicle. Less slippage occurs with its use.

 

Ropes come in different strengths for different needs, so the ropes are different colors to keep it simple for the rescuers. Because of the incredible demands placed on the ropes (weight, tension, water, scorching heat, and freezing cold) the ropes need to be tested for soundness on a regular basis. Too much weight at any given time can compromise the integrity of the rope, but even with normal wear and tear, they are replaced every few years.

 

Life expectancy of the ropes seen in the photos is about seven years. Somebody’s life depends on that rope not snapping, but even at a cost of about $15.00 per foot, fire departments try to budget for replacement at about the five year point.

 

The type of rescue involving a Stokes basket/lifting with ropes is a low frequency, but high risk operation.

 

On land, firefighters are frequently called upon to handle rescues of this type. At sea, this job falls to the Coast Guard. They have the trucks/helicopters, equipment, and training to ensure the happy ending to an otherwise awful tragedy.

 

 

Photo credits:

Taken by Patti Phillips during a Writers’ Police Academy demonstration in Wisconsin.

 

 

 

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KN, p. 189 “Fifth Anniversary Thank You from the Kerrians”

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Kerriansnotebook_FINAL copy

It’s with great pleasure that we thank you, the readers, for hanging out with us for five years.

We’ve taken some really amazing trips to American Civil War battlefields, endured fog and pouring rain on both American and international golf courses, been trapped in elevators, survived bomb scares, witnessed bloody crime scenes, and lived to tell the tales.

Some intriguing people have agreed to do interviews about their jobs and in the process, have opened the eyes of our readers far and wide about the rigors of law enforcement in its many forms.

Police Academies, Fire Fighter Academies, Emergency Medical Training Schools, Firearms Training sites, Criminal Investigation Facilities –  have all generously allowed us to take photos and chat with the instructors at length. Fascinating stuff.

We’ve met with Visiting Detectives – an assortment that included a psychic detective, a vegetarian detective, and a time-traveling detective from the 1800s. Sheila chimed in while they worked on puzzling cases with me. The Vegetarian Detective brought brownies. Yum.

 

Kerrian’s Notebook, Volume 1, which included stories from 2011 and 2012 no longer available on the website, was published in response to the readership that wanted the (over 50) stories from the first year collected into one ebook. Don’t have your copy yet? Click on the link and find it at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HI6YBDG

You’ve made the journey fun. And then some.  🙂

During the years, we kept track of which posts were the most popular, which ones you kept visiting over and over again. For research? For another laugh? To prove a point? For some of you, all three. Here is the result.

Click on the links and take a look at your Top 10 Favorite Kerrian’s Notebook posts in reverse order thru 2016:

10. Who are the Texas Rangers? (p.144)

 9. “Are all handcuffs yellow?

 8. “What does a Texas Ranger do?” (p.145)

 7. “How big is that jail cell?” (p.51)

 6. “Kerrian’s Favorite Chocolate Cheesecake.” (p.45)

 5. “100 Ways to Die an Unnatural Death.” (p.100)

 4. “What does a firefighter wear?” (p.119)

 3. “I Like Pie.” (p.67)

 2. “How many bodies at the scene?” (p.87)

And the most popular post?

 1. “How to become a Texas Ranger.” (p.146)

Thank you, one and all!  🙂
Next time you’re in town, give us a call. We’re always happy to chat about the latest trip or the trickiest case. If you’re lucky, you might even meet one of the Visiting Detectives. There’s always a pot of coffee on and a piece of pie just begging to be eaten.

*Fingerprint photo taken by Patti Phillips at SIRCHIE, in Youngsville, North Carolina.

 

 

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KN, p. 117 “Officer needs assistance!”

Arrests are rarely neat and tidy, or take place with little resistance from the suspect(s). If the charge is for a misdemeanor, too many parking tickets, or a problem with overdue child support, the suspect might cooperate. But, hardly anybody actually wants to go to jail.

If a car is seen weaving across lanes on a busy road, an officer might have cause to assume that something is wrong. Drunk driver? Distracted driver swatting at a bee in the car? Texting driver? Any of these scenarios require the officer to be on the alert, but might not require an automatic call for backup. He/she is facing what is called an Unknown Risk. The officer will follow protocol and call in the plate number or use his onboard computer to research outstanding warrants and ownership of the car. If flashing the patrol car light bar gets the driver to pull over so that the officer can investigate the reason for the odd behavior, then the stop may just end with a warning or a ticket.

Sometimes suspects are caught in the act of a committing a felony and they try to make a run for it (perhaps after a bank robbery or a drug deal goes south) hoping they can lose the cops in traffic or on deserted back roads. “Suspect fleeing the scene,” may be called in if it’s witnessed, and officers in pursuit are facing a Known Risk. It becomes a High Risk situation if guns are involved. The chase can continue beyond city limits, as long as it is an active pursuit.

Once the chase ends, the officers need to control the situation as much as possible, keeping their own position and the suspect’s position clearly in mind at all times.

Safety procedures the officers might follow if warranted:

If the chase ends during the daytime, the officer will angle the patrol cars to block off streets and people for their own protection, getting as close as possible to the suspects to control the developing situation.

You give up cover if you are not positioned behind a door, so the officers will try to stay behind a car door while the scene unfolds. Bullets will pierce doors, but at least a car door will slow the bullet down. Hopefully, the officers will be wearing bulletproof vests, but even a notebook will slow down a bullet, although not by much. There are degrees of cover and there are very few times of absolute cover.

At night, the officers will create a curtain of light – that is, shine lights on the suspect’s face so that he/she can’t see the officers.

Officers in patrol cars generally carry a shotgun because it commands respect. People pretty much stop in their tracks when they hear the sound of a shotgun being racked.

It is essential to get as much information about the people inside the car as possible, before any further action is taken. If there are tinted windows in the car, the officer will try to talk the people out. If the officer can’t? Then, officers are trained to wait the suspects out. It’s usually only a matter of time before the occupants of the car will make a move.

Officers will risk the K-9s if they need to, in order to encourage the suspects to get out of the car or even to stay put.

If the officer feels the trunk needs to be investigated, he/she will have the suspect pop the trunk so that the officer maintains control.

 Once the suspect gets out of the car, the officer will have him/her kneel or lie on the ground to be cuffed.

 

The suspect needs to be frisked before being placed in the patrol car.

 

The inside of a patrol car is bare bones for a reason. Suspects are often sick inside the patrol car, or even go to the bathroom in there. Yup, right in the back seat. This plain design makes it easier to hose out and also cuts down on places to hide sharp objects, etc.

 

Once the suspects have been cuffed and frisked, the officer places them inside the patrol car.

There were no guns in the hands of the suspects in this scenario, so the situation was handled fairly easily and was resolved in about an hour.

Please Note: none of the gals in the photos are criminals. They were attendees at the Writers’ Police Academy and were helping to re-enact a ‘Known Risk’ stop, complete with yelling and back-talk to the officers. Good sports, all!  🙂

Many thanks to the instructors at The Writers’ Police Academy and the volunteers from the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department (NC) who gave so generously of their time during their days off.

 

*Photos taken by Patti Phillips

 

 

 

The re-enactment was conducted at night and demonstrated how difficult it is for anyone to see what’s happening (officers or suspects) while the action unfolds. After I took the photos, I used a photo correction app to adjust the lighting, so that you could see the positions of the people and the cars.

 

Compare the two versions of the same image below.

#1 (the original image) shows how dark it really was outside.

#2 was adjusted so that you can see the demo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

          #1                                                                                                           #2

 

 

 

 

 

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