While this confined space entry video is strictly about a rank beginner, the gear the confined space training facility at Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) uses is exactly the type of equipment we offer at pksafety.com. The spot features an attractive local news anchor facing her fear of confined spaces. Spoiler alert - she doesn't freak out even a tiny bit.
The TEEK campus features state of the art emergency preparedness facilities and is home to the Texas Task Force 1 elite urban search and rescue team. The confined space entry and rescue tank even has realistic features like smoke to obscure visibility. For equipment, the video shows our intrepid anchor woman not only sporting solid basics like a Petzl Helmet with the Pixa 2 Headlamp, but also specialized access equipment such as the DBI-SALA Rescue Y-Lanyard.
And what better to extract a completely untrained, admittedly claustrophobic confined space entrant? If things go south with Ms. TV Personality, just crank her on up to the surface. No muss, no fuss. Now that would be some compelling TV. But nobody asks the blog guy.
The Y-lanyard attaches to a rescue-style harness with extraction rings on the shoulders. Since her anxiety didn't seem to be that great (or she was controlling it really well - either way it's boring) they strapped a SCBA or Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus to her back, cranked up the fog machine, and sent her back in. I think a few hungry rats would have livened up the scene and created a better test for her so-called anxiety. But again, my insight wasn't solicited before (or after) filming.
If you have questions or anxiety about your next confined space entry, contact us. We'll either set you up with the right equipment, or offer some helpful tips on how it could be way worse.