A patient needs to be rescued after falling off a cliff. You and your team are called to attend. But do you have the right amount of people in your team to conduct a rope rescue?
What is the correct number of rescuers required to successfully complete a rope rescue?
Well the truth is the exact number does not exist, because there are so many variables to consider during the response to a rope rescue. This can include such variables as the terrain or the environment, the skill level of your team members, and of course the type of rescue that needs to be conducted.

One variable that needs to be considered is the standard operating procedures that your team runs under. Standard operating procedures refers to the rules of the team, or the protocols that are set in place for each member of that team to follow. For instance a team may have a standard operating procedure that states that a minimum of five rescuers is required when attending to a rope rescue. This team has obviously come up with this number for many reasons. One possible reason is that it could be the number that has proven effective in the past, based on the type of rope rescues this team has attended, and the type of terrain that is in there area. One team may work in an area that only has short cliffs, another team may work in an area where there is a lot of caves, and another team may only respond to a rope rescue call once every six years.
Other possible reasons may include the type of rope rescue system the team usually sets up for rescues, the number of rescuers that is usually available for a rescue, even insurance can come into play. But how often would a team like this actually sit down and review their standard operating procedures to discuss whether or not they need to be updated?
The term ‘the more the merrier’ has been used in situations like this, and this can be both positive and negative. The more people you have hauling on the rope/s to lift the patient up the cliff the easier it is, and it also requires less mechanical advantage which means the patient gets to the top of the cliff quicker, and you do not need to reset the pulley system as much. But too many people can also cause problems. The team might only have limited space to work in and more people will just make it more difficult to operate the rescue system. The rescue being conducted may only have a small number of jobs required to be effective, and those that do not have a job assigned to them may want to get close to the edge to observe the rescue from a better angle. This maybe in a hope that they might be able to help in another way. Soon the team leader, who is suppose to be controlling the rescue, is now trying to control a crowd.
A rescue team may need to travel a distance to get to the rescue site, and if everyone in the county that is part of a rescue team is at that rescue site what would happen if there is a call for a rescue on the other side of that county? Response to this other rescue would be unnecessarily delayed, which could be a big problem.

Another variable to consider is the skills of the rescue team. A rescue team may only have limited experience and so a certain number of rescuers is needed to complete the rescue successfully. The number of rescuers required could be based on the type of rope rescue system being used. For example a team may be trained to operate a two rope or twin rope system, which means the team would require a team leader, a rescuer/stretcher attendant, an edge attendant, mainline operator, and belay line operator. They would also utilise a first responder to access and look after the patient while the rescue system is being rigged. This is a total of six rescuers working in this team, not including the additional people that may be required to help with the hauling on the raising system.
Some teams also have a high level of skills which means they can safely and effectively conduct rope rescues with less people. They have a better understanding of skills such as mechanical advantage which would allow them to raise a heavy load with less people hauling. They may also have the skills where one rescuer can safely operate the mainline and the belay line at the same time.
Small team skills is a method that some teams operate under. These teams usually have a high skill level which is maintained by regular training and assessment, and they use little ‘tricks’ that they have been trained and approved to use to complete the rescue with minimal equipment and a minimal amount of people. Some of these small teams conduct rope rescues with just two people, which includes one of those two rescuers looking after the patient during the rescue.

An additional variable that needs to be considered is the type of rope rescue situation that is at hand. A team may attend to a rope rescue call where the patient only needs a belay, which can be done by just one person. But they could also attend a similar call where the patient just needs to be belayed by one person, but then there is an additional problem which was not originally known and now additional rescuers are required. For instance, once the team arrives on scene they notice that the option to belay the patient is not going to work and they need to rig a system to raise him up. Or the patient stated that he was able to climb when he called but now he has collapsed due to medical reasons.
Some teams choose the number of rescuers required based on what they consider would be the worse case scenario for a rope rescue operation. One team may believe the worse case scenario would be a rescue which requires the patient to be in a stretcher with a stretcher attendant/rescuer and the team needs to use their artificial high directional system, such as an ArizonaVortex, to get the patient to safety. This team would then ensure that the number of rescuers that they send would be based on how many they believe would be required for this type of scenario.
A recon team, or a first response team, is an option that could be considered useful, especially for a team that have to travel a fair distance to get to the rescue. This team could be made up of about two or three rescuers who would be the first to arrive at location and while the rest of the team is making their way to the command post location, they could be walking into the rescue site. Once on scene they could provide initial care to the patient, and make an assessment of the situation. This would allow them to radio back to the rest of the team, that is on their way, and let them know what additional equipment is required and how many additional rescuers are required.
Considering all these options already mentioned, a rescue team should sit down and discuss their options so that they come up with the minimum number of rescuers that should be sent to all rope rescue calls they attend. And once that minimum number is decided on, they should also organise future dates for meetings to review that number so that they maintain their effectiveness during every response.

The goal is to have the minimum amount of rescuers for the maximum amount of effectiveness while still maintaining a high amount of safety, professionalism, and efficiency.
Another goal to have is for the individual rescuer; and that goal is to have a mindset that only one person should be able to complete a rope rescue. Not that only one person should be sent to a rope rescue, but that each individual rescuer focuses on his or her training so that they are confident enough to perform any task that they could be assigned to do at a rope rescue.
With the right people, and the right skills, your team can come up with the right amount of rescuers for any rope rescue situation.