Carbon rescue ladder: less weight, faster assembly, less manpower required
A carbon rescue ladder developed in Switzerland goes into series production. It significantly reduces weight and personnel requirements during operations and is already in service in 16 cantons.
Swiss fire departments are under increasing pressure: decreasing numbers of firefighters meet the same high demands for rapid rescue operations. A new carbon rescue ladder, developed on the initiative of fire department practitioners, Carrosserie Rusterholz (Richterswil) and OST - Ostschweizer Fachhochschule (Rapperswil-Jona), is intended to address precisely this issue. The ladder has recently been produced in a version optimized for series production.
Compared to conventional wooden or aluminum ladders, the carbon version significantly reduces the weight: at around 15 meters in length, it is around 50 kilograms, while conventional models reach 70 to 120 kilograms, depending on the design. This means that the ladder can also be used in practice with a minimal crew. «If necessary, we can set up a ladder with two people - instead of four to six as in the past,» says Clot Müller, deputy commander and instructor of the Rapperswil-Jona fire department.
In addition to the weight, the increased rigidity is a safety and comfort factor: when climbing, the ladder swings significantly less, which is particularly relevant for operations with breathing protection and full equipment at greater heights. In addition, newly developed support feet make it easier to set up the ladder by taking on some of the weight during assembly, thus reducing the physical strain. The ladder is also considered to be more fire-safe than aluminum or wooden models.
Distribution is already well advanced: more than 150 ladders are currently in use in 16 cantons. Schutz & Rettung Zürich says it has equipped almost all of its emergency vehicles with them - including the vehicles at the airport.
Until now, around 20 ladders per year have been manufactured by hand in Richterswil. A team led by OST professor Gion Barandun (fiber composite technology) has further developed the design for series production together with Carrosserie Rusterholz. «This will allow us to increase production from 20 to 100 or even 200 carbon ladders per year,» says Beat Sallenbach, Managing Director of Swiss Rescue Innovation GmbH, which distributes the product. The development work is based on two research projects supported by Innosuisse.
The series version was tested in OST's test engineering laboratory, including bending and breaking tests. According to Dominik Stapf, Head of Testing Technology at OST's IWK, the high requirements for rescue ladders are met.
Source: ost.ch
