Posted By Valerie Morton Has anyone any information on ways to inspect flume slides on a daily basis and on rescue procedures. We are currently investigating shoes that will grip the slide.

Posted By Clairey O in my former life - we would only inspect the flume the morning after it had been turned off, that way is way virtually dry. we would wear trainers and a climbing helmet with a torch on the front of it as one of the flumes was enclosed. it was up to the individual inspector which way they inspected the flume (bottom vs top or top vs bottom) with regard to rescue - we spent a lot of time working with our local emergency services on the best way to achieve a rescue. Most injuries would occur at the bottom of the flume in the aqua catch area. Good luck

Posted By Derek Holt It is all dependent upon the flume type. Degree of incline, number of turns etc. A number of centres use a rope access technique which involves them using a harness, descender and rope. Helmets and knee pads are worn. Very few flumes allow you to 'stand up' therefore the technique is to go down on knees paying out on the rope through the descender. There have been a number of accidents whilst undertaking inspections of flumes, be they dry or wet. Most are inspected dry but there has been incidents were the person inspecting has slipped (relied on friction of shoes alone)slid down the flume and hit the end of the catchment breaking ankles. One problem with using rope is its recovey. If there are many turns in the flume then trying to pull the rope up or down can be problematic due to the amount of friction created through the turns. In this case one option is for the inspector to climb back up retrieving the rope as they go into a bag. To do this they will need the addition of an ascender(hand type preferable). All told this is the safest solution, but requires more equipment, training, supervision, equipment inspection/maintenance and time. Reference rescue, as pointed out most 'customers' end up at the bottom of the flume. If the issue is those inspecting then the same system can be used to go down to the person and recover them, I won't go into the lenghty detail as to how you do this, but if you need to know contact me.