AKU continues its commitment, in collaboration with CNSAS (National Mountain and Cave Rescue Corps), to promoting a culture of professional training. Here is an account of a training exercise conducted by the Basilicata regional unit in Castelmezzano, in the province of Matera, set against the backdrop of the spectacular Lucanian Dolomites, with the CRODA DFS EVO GTX model on their feet.
An intense day of high-level professional training coordinated by Ennio Rizzotti, a native of Tarvisio, a highly experienced Alpine Guide, and National Instructor at the CNSAS National School of Technicians and Gorge Rescue. A leading figure in the world of Italian Alpine Rescue, Rizzotti led and evaluated the simulated operations to recover an injured hiker along the Salemm via ferrata, a very popular route that climbs up the Torre Normanna. A 7-person team from the Basilicata Regional Service, composed of rescue operators and medical personnel, performed the delicate maneuvers of immobilization, loading onto a stretcher, and transporting the victim down to the valley, applying operational protocols and using the specific safety equipment required to manage this particular rescue situation.
As always in such cases, training experience, combined with the use of appropriate safety equipment, are the key factors for the success of the operation, which was carried out flawlessly while also adhering to another fundamental requirement: the execution timeline.
For this new initiative, the AKU–CNSAS partnership was able to count on the support of a new key partner, the KONG brand, a historic Lombardy-based company specializing in the design and production of highly innovative safety equipment for rope access, rescue, and mountaineering. A shared commitment that, for AKU, is part of the program called PRO FORMA: a set of initiatives—some of which have already been documented in both mountain rescue and work at height—aimed at raising awareness of the importance of professional training as a prerequisite for the constant improvement of risk assessment capabilities in high-risk work.
PRO FORMA Program
The greater the training and experience, the lower the likelihood that a worker will be exposed to risky situations. PRO FORMA is a program of initiatives developed by AKU in collaboration with leading professional organizations to promote a culture of TRAINING as a fundamental prerequisite for reducing the risk of accidents in high-risk work activities.
