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Wlaf1450‘It’s real critical that we train for this’- La Follette Fire Chief Jimmy Pack
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Likely second only to water, rope plays a key role in the daily life of a firefighter. Firefighters with the A Shift of the La Follette Fire Department trained extensively with rope on Wednesday.
WLAF’s Charlie Hutson shares his photo gallery HERE.
“As a firefighter, we use ropes. That’s pretty much a daily thing. We have to learn to tie these knots, because we use them on the ladders. We also use them to hoist equipment (and rescue patients),” said LFD Captain Dusty Davis.
Before training began at the steep hill along Depot Street/South 5th Street, LFD Training Officer Joey Gilbert set the scene for us. “A car goes over an embankment. We have a patient in the car. We have to get the patient out of the car and be able to get them back up here (top of the embankment). We can physically move them manually, brute force. That’s hard. If we can set up a haul system to pull them up that is a mechanical advantage, and one person can bring them up. You have somebody treating the patient, you have one person pulling them up. That’s what we are in the process of setting up right now. The correct terminology is a three to one mechanical advantage. In the fire service, we call it a Z lift, because the rope actually makes a Z for the mechanical advantage,” said LFD Training Officer Joey Gilbert.
You have to be very proficient in tying knots, according to Captain Davis.
“Two people, who have been trained, can set up the Z lift in about five minutes while others are treating the patient. It takes a little bit of equipment, and we carry more than what we need on the truck,” said Gilbert.
“It’s real critical that we train for this. Because we run into situations like this sometimes, car wrecks, people getting hurt over an embankment, something like that. This is real important for them to learn this, especially these new guys who have never done this before,” said LFD Chief Jimmy Pack. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-05/08/2025-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)