09 - Elevator Rescue

Elevator Rescue is title nine of ten in Action Training Systems' Fire Service Rescue series, and SkillsTrain, the authorised ATS distributor in South Africa, supplies it locally as part of that series. After titles covering rope, confined space, structural, trench, machinery and water rescue, it returns the series to the built environment and sits directly before the closing Fireground Search and Rescue title.

The title covers freeing a person trapped in a stalled or malfunctioning elevator. It works through the common elevator system types a crew will meet, locating and securing the machine room, shutting down and locking out power so the car cannot move during the operation, and recognising hoistway and shaft hazards such as counterweights and open drops. From there it looks at reaching and accessing a stopped car, reassuring and controlling trapped occupants, and working alongside building maintenance staff or a lift technician where that is the safer route. The emphasis throughout is on a calm, controlled rescue rather than forcing a car that can still be moved safely by other means.

ATS builds its rescue content to NFPA 1006, the technical rescue professional-qualifications standard, and SkillsTrain supplies this title to that same build. It uses the same teach, test and track model as the rest of the ATS range: the course teaches a skill on video, checks the learner as they go, and stops, backs up and replays any point answered incorrectly before moving on. It is supplied on USB or as a classroom streaming option, individually or as part of the complete ten-title series.

Who it is for: urban fire services and building-dense municipalities where elevator entrapment is a realistic and recurring call type, and crews who want a repeatable, safe procedure for it.