Cribbing Refresher - Socially distanced 11-15-2020

Post date: Nov 16, 2020 6:52:19 AM

Thank you Hugo Penafiel for leading the cribbing refresher.

CERT members Matt Mathis, Stuart Eichert, Rayna Faigen, and Susan Goodis become experts at cribbing. 

What is cribbing? 

A crib is a wooden framework used for support or strengthening. Box cribbing means arranging pairs of wood pieces alternately to form a stable rectangle.

CONDUCTING RESCUE OPERATIONS (CONTINUED) LEVERAGING AND CRIBBING 

You may encounter situations in which debris needs to be moved to free survivors. In these situations, CERT rescuers should consider leveraging and cribbing to move and stabilize the debris until the rescue is complete.  Leveraging is accomplished by wedging a lever under the object that needs to be moved, with a stationary object underneath it to act as a fulcrum. When the lever is forced down over the fulcrum, the far end of the lever will lift the object.  A crib is a wooden framework used for support or strengthening. Box cribbing means arranging pairs of wood pieces alternately to form a stable rectangle. Leveraging and cribbing are used together by alternately lifting the object and placing cribbing materials underneath the lifted edge to stabilize it. Safety is number one: "Lift an inch; crib an inch." Leveraging and cribbing should be gradual — both for stability and to make the job easier. It may also be necessary to use leveraging and cribbing at more than one location (e.g., front and back) to ensure stability. Leveraging and cribbing at opposite ends should never be done at the same time because doing so will increase the instability of the debris. If leveraging is required at both ends, lift and crib at one end, then repeat the process at the other end. Positioning the pry tool and the fulcrum correctly is critical for safe operations. The fulcrum and pry tool must be perpendicular (90 degrees) to the edge of the object being lifted. Also, attempting to leverage a heavy object using too sharp an angle is inefficient and can result in back injury. Box cribbing is stable, but it requires pieces of cribbing material of relatively uniform size. When such material is not available, “unboxed” cribbing can also work effectively to support and stabilize the heavy object. A variety of cribbing materials may be used for these procedures and you will probably need to improvise by using materials such as tires or structural debris. Whatever you use, don’t put form over function. COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM UNIT 5: LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS 5-30 JANUARY 2011 CERT UNIT 5: LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS PARTICIPANT MANUAL CONDUCTING RESCUE OPERATIONS (CONTINUED) When you are able to achieve sufficient lift, you should remove the survivor and reverse the leveraging and cribbing procedure to lower the object. You should never leave an unsafe condition, unless the structure or building is obviously compromised.