SIG MMG 338 Program Series

Agilite’s Gear Used in South African Illegal Miners Rescue

We’ve received word that they’ve been adopted by military and Fire/Rescue units but it’s pretty to cool to hear about these Agilite products being used in a mine rescue.

Instant Harness 1

Innovative rescue products designed for the Israeli Army and top US Special forces were used in a dramatic rescue underground in South Africa yesterday.

At least eight people were rescued after a nightmare three day ordeal underground that left three dead, allegedly at the hands of an armed rival illegal mining crew.

Instant Harness 2

Graham Holmquist, from volunteer rescue organization, Riga Rescue, used Agilite’s “Instant Harness” a product that has become a must-have for many hikers, to lower a South African Police interpreter down into the shaft to communicate with the injured miners regarding the procedures to follow.

The Instant Harness is designed for scenarios where military, police, fire, rescue personnel or hikers require a harness without warning and without needing to carry a rapelling harness with them at all times.

“There was one point when we thought we would not be able to get the stokes basket safely into the mine shaft and we were going to use the IPC to extract the patients.” Said Holmquist who later tweeted:
“@Miracle_Medical I can tell you! That is one kick ass harness and every person in EMS, SAPS, FD, should have one”. on
To those unfamiliar, the “IPC,” known as “The Human Backpack” is another innovative Agilite rescue product that shot to fame when it was adopted by top United States Marine Corps units a year ago and a remarkable video showing the device in use with Israeli Commandos went viral. The IPC has even been adopted by disabled people.

“We have only been supplying Agilite equipment for a number of weeks now and people’s reactions to it have been both incredible and immediate. Clients in all sectors are now buying Agilite gear from us as its quality and innovative design is unsurpassed.” Said Jennie Greenhill of Miracle Medical, a distributor of emergency equipment in South Africa who supplied the rescuers. “The Agilite products come battle-tested but they’re already facing local challenges of a different kind here.”

www.agilitegear.com

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3 Responses to “Agilite’s Gear Used in South African Illegal Miners Rescue”

  1. Hi just a short note ,
    I am very impressed with the harness that you guys are marketing ! Thank you and Mirical Medical (Jennie) for making this availible to us ! Soon our whole unit will have this equipment ! Can’t wait to see some K9 equipment (harnesses) as a compleatly self funded unit we are happy to say that we are so happy with the quality of your products ! Thank you to Jennie the sponsored items true testiment to a great woman that Helps units like us to make a difference! Thank you guys and our sponsor Mirical medical !

  2. simon holden says:

    STABO rig?

  3. A Climber says:

    Looks like a cool product. Small and compactable is good but I have a concern about it’s strength….
    The buckle (an asian design) they are using in the harness is only rated 7kN and that’s way below the requirments set by UIAA, CSA, EN, ANSI, OSHA and NFPA for harnesses. 7kN might sound like lots but its really not when you consider the fall forces experienced in those sort of settings. Not only that – the buckle is known to open under load and that’s a deadly issue when you are hanging 300 feet off the deck. They would have have been way better off using the much stonger cobra buckle like Yates gear did on their products (www.yatesgear.com). Anyway, I’d be interested to know why and how Agilite did this – seems like a really really really bad choice just to save costs.