Technical rescue

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Technical rescue refers to those aspects of saving life or property that employ the use of tools and skills that exceed those normally reserved for firefighting, medical emergency, and rescue. These disciplines include rope rescue, swiftwater rescue, dive rescue, confined space rescue, snow and ice rescue, cave rescue, trench/excavation rescue, and building collapse rescue, among others. In the United States, Technical Rescues will often have multiple jurisdictions operating together to effect the rescue, and will often use the Incident Command System to manage the incident and resources at scene.

NFPA regulation 1006 and 1670 state that all "rescuers" must have medical training to perform any technical rescue operation, including cutting the vehicle itself during an extrication. Therefore, in most all rescue environments, whether it is an EMS Department or Fire Department that runs the rescue, the actual rescuers who cut the vehicle and run the extrication scene or perform any rescue such as rope, low angle, etc, are Medical First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians, or Paramedics, as most every rescue has a patient involved.

References: High Angle Rescue Techniques, 3rd Edition, by Tom Vines and Steve Hudson, Elvesier, Seacaucus, NJ, 2005. ISBN 0-323-01914-5. Field Guide Supplement ISBN 0-323-01913-7.