RESCUE AND EVACUATION - Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities - page 87

children's plastic sleds with additional rigging. Either type is adaptable for transporting
people with suitable padding, even though few are long enough to be ideal. The occupant,
like any important load, must be tied into the main rope in crevassed areas.
Carrying a Litter on Nontechnical Terrain
The optimum number of litter bearers on nontechnical terrain is six, with three on each
side. More litter bearers just get in each other's way. Fewer carry too much weight and
risk dropping the litter if one person stumbles. On level and uphill terrain, the occupant is
carried head end first, but on downhill terrain the litter is turned around to keep the per-
son's head higher than the feet. If the heights of the litter bearers vary, the pairs should be
matched for height across the litter, except on sidehill carries, where the taller litter bearers
should be on the downhill side.
Sometimesaseventhrescueractsaslittercaptain.Thecaptainstaysinfrontonlevelter-
rain,sometimessupportingtheheavierheadend,butalsomaysteadythelitterfrombehind
on downhill stretches. The captain or the litter bearers in front should call out obstacles
to those behind, who will have difficulty seeing ahead. If enough people are available, the
personwhoisprovidingmedical carecanwalkbehindthelittertomonitorandcomfortthe
occupant.
Even with six litter bearers, carrying a litter with an adult for any significant distance is
strenuous. If the rescue group is large, enough members to carry the litter in rotation may
be available. Some members should go ahead to scout the route, stopping in pairs at inter-
vals of 50 to 100 meters. They should station themselves on either side of the trail, and as
the litter passes they replace the pair of litter bearers at the back of the litter. This back pair
simultaneously moves forward to become the middle pair, the middle pair moves forward,
and the front pair walks ahead of the litter. A leader or captain may station the pairs, who
can switch sides so they use different muscles in consecutive carries. In complex terrain,
such as woods or very rocky terrain, this technique can be modified by having the replace-
ment pairs in front of the litter and performing the replacement in reverse order. In either
sequence, the litter keeps moving continuously, with only occasional interruptions in com-
plex terrain.
The litter bearers can support the litter with a three-meter strap or sling attached to the
litter and passed over the bearer's shoulders to the outside hand, which transfers much of
the weight to their shoulders and makes carrying the litter less strenuous. The slings can
also be used to adjust the height of the litter to compensate for variations in terrain. The
litter bearers should not be tied to the litter.
Water Rescues
On flat water, such as lakes and protected harbors, a boat or raft may be valuable for
avoiding a long, difficult carry on land. A six-person raft is adequate, but only a single res-