Water Rescue Strap
date: label: Associated Date
content: 2005
name: label: user
content: United States Coast Guard
notes: label: Description
content: Water rescue teams from the United States Coast Guard used this harness to save many residents of New Orleans and other Louisiana parishes inundated by the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The harness or "strop" was lowered by motorized cable from a Coast Guard helicopter hovering overhead. A rescue swimmer would jump out of the helicopter into the water to help maneuver the strop around and under the victim's arms. Flood victims were also plucked off rooftops and out of trees using these strops. One consequence of Katrina's sudden and unexpected ferocity was the danger facing many people ill-equipped to escape the apparent safety of their homes.
label: Description
content: Teams of helicopter rescuers made thousands of trips from air bases along the Gulf Coast in the search for survivors. Flying conditions over New Orleans in particular were hazardous in the days immediately following Katrina, as many police, military, and private services sought to use the suddenly clear skies to locate trapped victims.
label: Description
content: For those who were rescued, one ordeal was quickly replaced by another longer ordeal of displacement, discovery of how much had been lost, and gradual recovery.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: referenced
content: United States: Louisiana
label: referenced
content: United States: Louisiana, New Orleans
topic: label: related event
content: Hurricane Katrina
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Military
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Transportation
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from US Coast Guard
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2006.0009.01
label: catalog number
content: 2006.0009.01
label: accession number
content: 2006.0009
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Water Rescue Harness
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 41 in x 12 in x 4 1/2 in; 104.14 cm x 30.48 cm x 11.43 cm