Rescues from water, vehicles, or from various heights always have caused some complications for the fire service. they can be especially difficult for small communities like ours, which have a population of approximately 20,000 and an annual increase of about 8000 students when the university is in session (Truman State University).

For the above-mentioned reasons, we in the fire service spend many hours and invest many dollars in training and rescue equipment. We know that someday we could be confronted with a situation that is not an everyday occurrence. just such a incident occurred in our department in September, 1984. Ironically, it occurred only minutes after we had completed an hour-long discussion on how we would handle such a rescue. (see box titled "Advance notice of an inspection...")

We received this call from the Public Works Department, who had called us earlier that day to tell us the City water towers were being inspected. This time, the caller indicated that someone either had fallen or had been injured inside the 150-foot-high water tower in the downtown area.

The on-duty shift responded immediately with two pumpers and the 75-foot snorkel. We also dispatched our equipment van.

When the first due engine company arrived, confusion existed about what exactly had happened. Fire Officers began questioning the Inspection workers. We learned that two of them had come back down the tower to summon help. They also told us that the injured man apparently had been climbing down inside the tank. When he was approximately 20-30 feet from the bottom, the ladder had broken and he had fallen. His coworkers were unsure about the extent of his injuries, but they knew he had disabling injuries to a leg and an arm and could not walk.

Officers sized up the situation and established a command post at ground level on the east side of the water tower. Four fire fighters, one of whom had just received an 81-hour EMT training course, proceeded to the tower with lifelines, rappelling devices, safety belts, etc., to ascend the tower and to size the situation from what they themselves could see. Later, when they had reached the individual, they could decide what rescue attempts would be required.

The snorkel was placed on the west side of the tower. From there, the snorkel would reach the highest point possible and would still be feasible to work from. Even so, the snorkel was 25 feet below the catwalk that circled the tower.

The fire fighters began ascending the tower and setting up lifelines. Officers remained in open verbal communication with them. The fire fighters reached the top of the tower and sized up the victim's injuries, which appeared to be the lower body and one arm. Because they still did not know the full extent of his injuries, the fire fighters requested the EMT-Paramedics from the ambulance crew be sent up to help stabilize the victim, to which they were very reluctant to go up the tower. The crew members would, however, assist us with the medical needs once the victim had been removed from the tank and was on the ground.

We realized then how fortunate we were to have a Paramedic on duty and involved in the rescue. This Paramedic along with other fire fighters determined that it would be possible to place a lifeline around the injured victim and bring him to the top of the tower. But this was only the beginning; the next problem was getting him down to the catwalk.

The victim, having worked on water towers, apparently had some experience with rescue equipment. He was able to assist in his own rescue, especially in getting himself from the top of the tower down to the catwalk. But even in the relatively short distance of approximately 25 feet, he became quite weak. At this time, fire fighters knew that he would not be able to lower himself from the catwalk down to the ground by means of a ladder or rescue lines.

Therefore, Officers advised them to bring the injured man around the catwalk to the west side of the tower. The Officers felt that the best method would be to lower the victim from the catwalk into the snorkel basket-which, again, was a distance of 25 feet. The fire fighters working on he tower decided to put the injured man in a harness and to add a safety line. Using approved fire service rigging and techniques, they lowered him into the snorkel basket. The incident proceeded without further problems. Once the victim was safely in the snorkel basket, the officers lowered him to the ground. He was removed from the scene and taken to the emergency room of the local hospital for treatment of his injuries.

It began with a telephone call from the Public Works Department. The City's water towers, we were told, were to be inspected by a firm specializing in this work, and we should be aware that the firm's personnel would be ascending the downtown tower and descending into the tank to take photographs and make internal inspections.

We met with our shift personnel to discuss pre-incident plans on the water tower and the steps that should be taken if there were an injury or if someone became trapped in the tower. We reviewed our on-hand equipment and the training we had to remove someone from this situation.

We knew that the exterior of the downtown tank was approximately 150 feet high; inside, it was at least 50 feet from the top opening to the base.

During our planning discussions, we discovered that our lifelines and rescue equipment were at the minimum that should be used for such rescue. We also decided to include the snorkel for lowering a victim into a basket from the tank's catwalk, which was about 100 feet above ground level. We acknowledge that we would be hampered by the fact that our snorkel only extended to a height of 75 feet. After about one hour of discussion, we felt that we could make such a rescue without undue hazard to either the victim or the rescuers.