My concern was not for those handling the litter, which is obviously a skill best acquired in the vertical environment, but for the live person used to fill the basket. Why not use a simulated victim instead of a live person to simulate a victim? Why don't you have a shield to protect their face at least? Did Hamlin discard my blue coveralls with SAR patches that I donated for ease of victim simulation, or do you need another set? We can't eliminate risk entirely, only reduce it. As a volunteer firefighter I went through Burn-to-Learn exercises at the state fire academy, and had a limited amount of swift-water rescue training, but would you think it appropriate to put a live person into a burning building to simulate a victim you needed to extricate, or ask them them to swim into rapids and strand themselves to simulate a victim? We just used a bundle of ropes to simulate a victim. I would suggest that you consider the same alternative, to minimize the risk you take with others lives.