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Banyards beefs up its aerial rescue practice |
22nd May 2007 |
Dorset horticultural company Banyards is introducing monthly aerial rescue practice for all their tree surgery teams.
It is not only cats that have to be rescued from trees: sometimes an accident can mean that a tree surgeon has to be rescued, so Banyards'tree surgery manager, Peter Ellis, is pushing his teams into more regular practice.
Banyards has never had to conduct an aerial rescue in earnest but, but years ago Peter had to rescue a colleague whose foot had become trapped.
He said: "You might only have to do it for real once in your whole career, but on that occasion you could save someone's life. The the more practice you have, the quicker you can get someone out."
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All of Banyards tree surgeons are fully qualified for their climbing work, and that includes being trained in aerial rescue, but Peter believes that practising these skills is important and he wants Banyards to lead the industry towards making that practice more regular.
The current standard for the industry is a 'recommendation'of refresher training periodically.
Peter says: "Accidents can happen – a pruning saw cut, or being whipped in the face by a branch – and the more practice you have, the quicker you can get someone out."
There are three broad types of rescue: from the main structure of a tree, which is the easiest; from the outer branches; and from a sectional felling.
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Peter would like to reach a point where each team is practising each of the three types of rescue once a month, but he admits that is very ambitious.
However, he is serious about pushing his three teams towards more practice and he has the backing of his managing director, Paul Edwards, who has threatened to turn up unannounced on site and call for a demonstration!
