Pontoon Raft Aids Water, Ice Rescue
A rescue platform supported by two inflatable pontoons which can be used on thin ice as well as in turbulent water was demonstrated recently in the Chicago River.
Chicago fire fighters simulated a rescue using the Res Q Dek apparatus, a device invented by Roy Lindblade and manufactured by his New Products Safety Corporation of Alsip, Ill. The flotation gear was made by Goodyear Aerospace Corporation of Akron.
Robert W. Clark, Goodyear Aerospace vice president, said, “The apparatus has the buoyancy to keep 20 men afloat and the stability of an outrigger canoe. It’s light enough to be handled by two men and can be deployed in less than a minute from a paramedic van.”
Inflation of the automatic fast deployment model is by military-type gas canisters and requires only seven seconds.
Clark said the flotation bags are made from the same rubber-coated nylon fabric that forms the skirts on air cushion vehicles.
Air pressure in the pontoons is only 5 psi, so there is minimal force that might cause ice to break, and if it does, the Res Q Dek simply floats.
During flood seasons, sometimes people become trapped in the turbulence below low-head dams. The Res Q Dek permits hand-to-hand rescue tactics under these conditions.
“A larger pontoon version of this apparatus can be driven right against the dam face,” Clark said, “a practice guaranteed to swamp or capsize ordinary boats.”
The high-flotation air bags are designed to remain free of undertow and the device’s low center of gravity minimizes the possibility of capsizing.
The standard model can keep several people afloat in the water until larger rescue craft reach the scene of a boating accident. Ropes around the scaffold and bags provide handgrips for 20 persons. □ □
