Evaluating health and safety procedures and practices of ladder work and stretcher work within V.E.R.S.O. during the emergency response training and operations

Abstract

Whatever the type of rescue training or operation, safety is the primary consideration. It is the duty and responsibility of every rescuer to safeguard one's own health and safety, and that of the other rescuers, including the public, who may be affected by the work being carried out, and to ensure that all the necessary health and safety procedures and practices involved are carried out with a minimum of risk. By nature, rescue work involves a degree of dangerous work and it is important that the necessary measures are taken in a routinely and consistent manner. Two main important and demanding rescue works that require a large amount of health and safety awareness are ladder work and stretcher work. Unlike other less demanding rescue works, they put both the rescuer and the casualty in dangerous situations such as heights, rough terrain and other similar situations which might put both the rescuer's and the casualty's health and safety at risk. The following chapter introduces V.E.R.S.O., an emergency and rescue services organization, and the subject of ladder work and stretcher work.