Ground pads are 2-foot wide sheets of thick plywood that have traction surfaces painted on one side. They are used to provide stable footing near trench or hole edges and to cover grates or other surfaces that have slots or holes. Ground pads are stored on Rescue-1 and the Special Operations Support Unit.
Ground pads are required to be used as edge pads alongside deep ditches and trenches.
They are needed to provide safe footing when on cattle guards, ice or other dangerous surfaces.
Ground pads help keep hooves from falling back through cattle guard grates during extrications.
When used for edge protection or surface covering for cattle guard, mud and ice rescues, ground pads are often used in combination with slip sheets. Slip sheets by nature have a slick surface while ground pads have a traction surface, so it's important when organizing a rescue to consider the best positions for slip sheets and ground pads.
On Rescue-1 the ground pads are stowed in the overhead rack.
On the Special Operations Suport Unit, 4 ground pads are stowed in the right hand overhead rack.
The training information presented in these information sheets and guides is offered for illustrative and volunteer refresher purposes only. It is not a substitute for actual hands-on training.
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