I was lucky enough to visit Greencastle, Pennsylvania yesterday to sit in on a training day with Cumberland Valley Tree Service. My friend and colleague from the ISA Penn-Del chapter, Aaron Feather, was wrapping up a three-day training event in which a great cluster of topics were covered including structural pruning, crown access and climbing, and aerial rescue procedures and protocols.

Groups divided up and worked on aerial rescue training, as well as some final work procedures in the trees around the host property of camp Joy El.

The firehose patient dummy (borrowed from a local firehouse) was hoisted again and again into the large chestnut oak as climbers accessed the crown and performed a rescue of the injured hose bundle. Many different climbing techniques were employed throughout the day, and everything from rope walking systems to hip-thrusting were used in order to successfully get into the tree and handle the injured climber safely to the ground. Just in the conversations I had and heard, it was an inspiration to see the crew enjoying not only the pertinent array of the topics, but also the collaborative process of learning and growing as a team of arborists.

Topics like tourniquet placement, the wrong situation to attempt a rescue and what types of resources need to be exhausted should this simulation ever become a reality were covered amongst each group that cycled through the aerial rescue station. Feather also covered ground based rescue options as it applies to specific stationary rope climbing systems that may be employed during a job.

The culture of safety at Cumberland Valley Tree Service is something to envy by any professional arboriculture operation. Aside from a strong backbone of long-time employees, CVTS also has the resource of a great recruitment pool from the Penn State Mount Alto location nearby where students have specific areas of study that deal directly with tree management and tree care. Both longtime crew members and new hires combined for a highly collaborative and effective learning day that left me all the more excited in terms of how important a great culture of safety is in this industry.

 

I asked Aaron Feather what the secret was to creating that great culture at CVTS and his reply was simple.

“We get great people.”