Blog Archives

Why Growing Rescue Programs Use RLA CORE Squad

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, How-To Concepts, Online Training Education, Personal Competencies, Principles of Learning, Professional Standards

Squad Is Where Rescue Training Stops Being Informal Most rescue organizations begin with motivated individuals. A few strong technicians train consistently, absorb outside instruction, attend conferences, build systems together, and gradually become the operational backbone of the team. Over time, these individuals start carrying increasing responsibility inside the organization. One person becomes the training officer. […]

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Why Rescue Departments Use RLA CORE Team for Operational Consistency

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions, How-To Concepts, Online Training Education, Personal Competencies

As Rescue Organizations Grow, Training Drift Multiplies Small crews can often maintain consistency through close operational proximity. Team members train together regularly, communicate frequently, and naturally reinforce each other’s understanding over time. Once organizations begin scaling beyond that size, the challenge changes completely. Different shifts begin developing different habits. Instructors emphasize different priorities. Operational terminology

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Why Small Rescue Crews Use RLA CORE for Technical Rescue Consistency

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, How-To Concepts, Online Training Education, Personal Competencies, Team Competencies

Small Rescue Crews Operate Differently Than Large Departments Most small rescue teams do not have the luxury of large training divisions, dedicated instructional staff, or personnel assigned to a single operational discipline. Crew members often wear multiple hats. The same person handling anchors during one evolution may transition into edge operations, litter management, haul systems,

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Why Individual Rescuers Choose RLA CORE Essentials for Rope Rescue Training

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions, Online Training Education, Personal Competencies

RLA CORE Essentials Was Built for the Individual Rescuer Not every rescuer trains inside a large department with unlimited resources, dedicated instructors, or highly structured operational development. Many technicians are responsible for building their own competency outside of scheduled drills, annual refreshers, or occasional certification courses. That reality creates a problem. Without a consistent training

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Why Teams Choose RLA CORE for Technical Rescue Training

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Personal Competencies

Why Rescue Teams Are Moving Toward Structured CORE Training Most rescue teams do not struggle because they lack effort. They struggle because knowledge becomes fragmented over time. Different instructors teach different methods. Team members develop habits based on local culture rather than system logic. Equipment changes faster than operational understanding. Eventually, even experienced teams begin

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Anchors and Anchor Systems in Rope Rescue

Lance Piatt / Anchoring, Anchors, Arizona Vortex, Artificial High Directional AHD, Blog, Elevated Anchor Systems, Portable Anchors

Anchors and Anchor Systems in Rope Rescue Every rope rescue system begins with one decision: what will hold the load? Before the haul systems, before the litter movement, before the edge transition, there is the anchor. It is the structural foundation that determines whether the entire operation functions smoothly or fails under pressure. In technical

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Litter Operations and Patient Evacuation in Technical Rescue

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Litter Operations, Mainline Systems and Operations, Mechanical Advantage, Pickoffs

Litter Operations and Patient Evacuation in Technical Rescue Technical rescue environments rarely fail because of a lack of gear. More often, they fail because teams underestimate movement, terrain transitions, communication breakdowns, or the physical demands of transporting a patient through difficult ground. Litter operations sit at the center of all of it. From low-angle wilderness

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Arizona Vortex Configuration Guide for Directional and Anchor Frame Rescue Systems

Lance Piatt / Anchoring, Anchors, Arizona Vortex, Artificial High Directional AHD, Blog, Designing Your Processes, FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions

The Arizona Vortex is often taught as a collection of individual configurations: tripod, A-frame, gin pole, sideways A-frame, and easel-leg variants. But in the field, those configurations are never selected in isolation. Terrain, edge conditions, anchor availability, hauling direction, team size, load path, and operational constraints all shape the decision. This project reframes the Vortex

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Teaching the Twin Tension Rope System in the Classroom

Lance Piatt / Blog, Two Tensioned Rope Rescue Systems

The Twin Tension Rope System — TTRS — represents one of the most significant shifts in rescue rigging philosophy in recent decades. For a long time, the standard approach meant one tensioned mainline doing the work while a second rope sat in a slack belay configuration, ready to catch a failure but contributing nothing to

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Mechanical Advantage and Anchor Systems in Rope Rescue

Lance Piatt / Anchoring, Anchors, Blog, Mainline Systems and Operations, Mechanical Advantage

In rope rescue, mechanical advantage and anchor systems are never separate subjects. Every haul system depends on an anchor, and every anchor must be capable of resisting the forces a mechanical advantage system creates. That relationship is often misunderstood. Rescuers may focus on the efficiency of a 3:1 or 5:1 system, yet overlook how redirects,

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Elevated Anchor Systems in Technical Rescue

Lance Piatt / Anchoring, Anchors, Blog, Elevated Anchor Systems

Understanding Artificial High Directionals as Structural Systems Artificial High Directionals, often referred to as elevated anchor systems, are sometimes treated as specialized accessories used only when terrain or structure presents a difficult edge. In practice, they are much more significant. These systems function as structural components that influence geometry, manage force vectors, improve movement efficiency,

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Anchor Force Distribution in Technical Rescue Rigging

Lance Piatt / Anchoring, Anchors, Blog, Principles of Learning

Anchor Force Distribution in Technical Rescue Rigging Understanding anchor force distribution in technical rescue is the difference between a technician who follows rules and one who understands why those rules exist. This tool makes that understanding tangible — not through charts or formulas alone, but through live, interactive geometry that responds to your input and

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Why Nothing in Technical Rope Rescue Stands Alone

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, Elevated Anchor Systems, Highline Rigging, Horizontal Rigging, Mechanical Advantage, Patient Packaging, Uncategorized

Why Nothing in Technical Rope Rescue Stands Alone Ask any experienced rope rescue practitioner what separates a competent technician from a truly dangerous one, and you will hear some version of the same answer: the dangerous one knows the pieces but not how they fit together. They can build a mechanical advantage system — but

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Course Finder for Technical Rigging Training at Rigging Lab Academy

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, How-To Concepts, Personal Competencies

Course Finder for Technical Rigging Training at Rigging Lab Academy You know you need to learn more. The discipline is clear, the commitment is there, and somewhere in the RLA course library is exactly what you need — study guides, video demonstrations, reference materials, and critical analysis frameworks. The curriculum is comprehensive. Which is part

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Scenario Analysis for Operational Rigging Decisions

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, Personal Competencies, Safe Practices

Scenario Analysis for Operational Rigging Decisions You have a scenario. Not a question with a clean answer and not a system waiting to be verified — a situation with variables, constraints, and consequences that don’t resolve neatly on paper. The environment is a factor. The anchors are what they are. The load is moving in

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Technical Rescue Questions Answered from the RLA Knowledge Base

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, Personal Competencies

Technical Rescue Questions Answered from the RLA Knowledge Base You have a technical rescue question. Not a general one — a specific one. The kind that comes from being inside the discipline, from having studied the system or worked the scenario and landed on something you need answered precisely. You know enough to know the

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Rigging Pre-Operation Check Before the Load Goes On

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions, Personal Competencies, Principles of Learning

Rigging Pre-Operation Check Before the Load Goes On You’ve built the system. The anchors are set, the rope is rigged, and the hardware is in place. You’ve run through it in your head more than once. And still — before you commit, before the load goes on, before the operation begins — there’s a moment

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Rigging Guidance When You Don’t Know Where to Start

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Education, Organizing

Rigging Guidance When You Don’t Know Where to Start You’re somewhere between what you know and what you need to know. Maybe it’s a system configuration you haven’t built before. Maybe it’s a scenario that sits just outside your training. Maybe you’re a student who has absorbed the theory but hasn’t yet found the bridge

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Cross Haul System Calculator — Building a Force Analysis Tool for Horizontal Rope Access

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Dynamic Directional, Education, Elevated Anchor Systems, Highline Rigging, Horizontal Rigging, Litter Operations, Mainline Systems and Operations, Portable Anchors, Principles of Learning, TerrAdaptor, Two (Twin) Tension Rope Systems, Two Rope Offsets, Two Tensioned Rope Rescue Systems

Building a Force Analysis Tool for Horizontal Rope Access TTRS Configuration · Vortex AHD Leg Forces · Exit Zone Analysis SPRAT Level 2 Required Skill · Pre-operational Planning Tool Moving a package horizontally across a span — a patient in a litter, a gear load, a confined space casualty — sits at the intersection of

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Highline Systems — Planning, Building, and Operating the Crossing

Lance Piatt / Blog, Designing Your Processes, Dynamic Directional, Education, Highline Rigging, Offset Track Line, Principles of Learning

A highline is a tensioned rope system used to transport a rescuer and patient across a gap that cannot be crossed any other way — canyons, gorges, building-to-building, or industrial spans. When ground access isn’t an option, a highline is. This chapter covers both system types, the calculations that govern them, and how to operate

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