LOCATION:
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Building, 5505 E. Rutter Ave. Spokane WA. 99212

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This is an intensive course designed specifically for law enforcement operators to develop true vertical mobility on rope as a single responder and to manage team-based operations. Use of force considerations, actions on contact, tactical medical, and agency policy considerations are integrated throughout. Course is roughly 48 contact hours in 5 days, as it will include slightly extended days and a night operations session after dinner Wednesday. Let DAV know if that is an issue with time rules / OT / union agreements, etc. We’ll adapt accordingly and can revise as needed.

Any operator on rope MUST be capable of 2 way travel…UP and down…on demand…no exceptions…independent of top side operators, or they are a liability waiting to happen and create an even more egregious situation. Rope in some situations may not reach the ground. Access to the top may not be possible, thus we teach remote rigging / urban climbing over structures and suspended tie ins in trees, bridges, etc. Operators need to be able to perform these skills in the dark, snow, rain, or shine, equipped with full entry gear, and have a plan for extrication if something goes wrong, or a civilian needs to be extricated. A tactical team with any claim of “vertical capability” must be independently capable of managing the entire operation from risk assessment, site access, anchor planning, rigging, & inspection, and have operators fluent on rope…not dependent of top-based systems run by non-tactical personnel.

TRM is based on single rope techniques (SRT) and Small Party Assisted Rescue (SPAR) tactics used by the most proficient SRT practitioners in the world…cavers and arborists. These are light-weight / go-fast rope professionals that go anywhere, and can do the most with the least amount of gear. The TRM course synthesizes tactical rope operations with these concepts. Our instructors are accomplished practitioners of all three industries. Course is designed for a small unit of 2 to 4 operators working as a team.There are several role player supported Reality Based Training (RBT) drills embedded in the course to give mission context to the training, and build true confidence in operators so that they KNOW they can succeed and win when the time comes, not just hope that they can. To that end we integrate full mission gear into training, live fire familiarization drills, night operations, confined space (perhaps water) to build unconscious competence.

It is possible we may also be able to deliver the 3 ITRA Learning Objectives for helicopter based rappel and
extraction. Details to follow.