surely eden hills will still require the heavy rescue gear if it wishes to remain as a road crash rescue resource...
eden hills is listed as primary rescue for eden hills (funnily enough) and bellevue heights, and secondary (default) rescue for blackwood, belair, hawthorndene, coromandel valley, coromandel east, glenalta, cherry gardens, etc....
and to be a road crash resource you must carry;
heavy duty hydraulic cutters
heavy duty hydraulic spreaders
heavy duty hydraulic ram (300mm and 600mm or telescopic)
stabilising equipment
etc....
a qoute from the SA RCR Resource Directory:
"combined cutter/spreader units, referred to as rapid intervention tools or "combi" tools such as those made my holmatro or hurst do not meet the minimum criteria for a rescue response"
so... does this mean that eden hills will be removed from the road crash directory as a rescue response?? i would presume so.
and therefore the question begs to be asked why was the gear supplied?? seems like a waste of time and money to me.
im not having a personal go, im all for new toys and getting the good gear, but i see it as a major issue.
for instance if we have a rescue in coromandel valley and for some reason blackwood cannot roll there rescue, the defualt will go to eden hills (its happened a few times)... and basically (from my personal knowledge... which ill admit isnt completely comprehensive) a combi-tool isnt sufficient equipment to effect rescue of a single entrapment or multiple trapped personseffect rescue. so what happens then? a second default? this time to MFS? if we are still estimating the chance of a persons survival by using the "golden hour" theory, then weve just cut there odds by delaying rescue
my personal thoughts/concern only...