A rescue stretcher for work-at-height use is selected on five hard gates: immobilisation system, vertical-rated lifting bridle, patient mass rating, dimensional envelope for the access route, and the standard set the kit is certified to (EN 1497, EN 1865, EN 1789, or ANSI Z359.4) [S1][S3].
Work-at-height rescue almost always follows a fall-arrest event involving a full-body harness-clad casualty, so the stretcher must accept a harnessed patient without re-routing load-bearing straps, and the lashing must clear dorsal, sternal, and side D-rings without creating secondary suspension-trauma load [S3]. For the broader harness-sizing context that drives stretcher chest-strap geometry, see the Exposure ProVertical harness matrix where Master SVM001 (1950 g, EN 361/358/813) covers a 70-130 cm waist and Skill Lite VUL001 (790 g, EN 361) accepts users 160-210 cm tall [S1].
Standards and ratings that actually constrain the build
EN 1497 governs rescue harnesses and is the typical paired standard for a stretcher used to extract a fallen worker, while EN 1865 specifies stretcher requirements for ambulance and rescue use, and EN 1789 covers the vehicle interface for medical devices [S3]. In North America the equivalent is ANSI/ASSP Z359.4, which covers fall-arrest assemblies including descent-control and rescue subsystems and is named in OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502 as a recognised design reference [S3].
Patient mass rating is the single non-negotiable gate: rescue stretchers commonly carry 150 kg / 330 lb working load, with heavy-duty industrial versions rated 272 kg / 600 lb, and the rating must include the mass of the rescuer, patient, attached medical devices (e.g. oxygen cylinder, scoop, vacuum mattress), and water or debris absorbed into the shell [S3]. A vertical-lift bridle is mandatory for any helicopter hoist or crane extraction, and the bridle attachment points must present a defined load path so that a single-point failure on the casualty bag cannot drop the patient.
Basket (Stokes) vs Neil Robertson: a four-axis comparison
For work-at-height rescue the two dominant designs are the rigid wire-frame or HDPE-shell basket stretcher (often called a Stokes basket) and the flexible Neil Robertson stretcher, and they trade off along four engineering axes: immobilisation, vertical-lift capability, storage envelope, and casualty access angle [S1][S3].
Baskets provide full spinal immobilisation when paired with a vacuum mattress, accept a harnessed casualty without disturbing D-ring geometry, lift vertically via a four-point bridle, and are common 215 x 65 x 19 cm at roughly 8-12 kg shell weight [S3]. Neil Robertson designs use a semi-rigid plywood or composite shell with internal wooden lath slats, weigh 4-6 kg, fold flat for stowage in tower-base cabinets, and constrain the casualty more tightly for narrow-shaft or ladder-shaft evacuation, but they do not lift vertically as a single-point basket does and require a separate hoisting harness for true vertical extraction [S3].
Who a basket stretcher is FOR, and who it is NOT for
A basket stretcher is the correct pick for tower, mast, telecoms, wind-turbine nacelle, and MEWP-platform rescue where the casualty is fully harnessed, the evacuation angle is vertical or near-vertical, and the rescue team needs to drag, lower, or hoist the patient through open air [S3]. It is also the right pick where spinal precautions must be maintained for an unknown-trauma fall victim, because the rigid shell plus a vacuum mattress or head immobiliser supports cervical spine control during the lift.
A basket stretcher is the wrong pick for confined-space shaft rescue narrower than 65 cm, for routine inter-floor transport in a finished building with stair landings, and for any extraction where the route is a ladder cage or manway too tight to clear a 215 cm long rigid shell, where a Neil Robertson or a split-scoop stretcher is the correct tool [S3]. The basket is also the wrong pick when the rescue crew has not been trained on the bridle rigging, because a mis-rigged four-point lift can invert the casualty.
Real use cases mapped to access equipment
On a MEWP platform, the basket rides inside the basket of the aerial work platform for the casualty plus a rescuer, and the rescue plan assumes the MEWP is lowered normally, not hoisted from above, which keeps the spec focused on internal dimensions and patient mass rather than external bridle rating [S5]. For an aerial work truck with an insulated boom, the same logic applies but adds a dielectric constraint: the stretcher shell must be non-conductive if the casualty is still in contact with the insulated boom path, and any metal patient strap buckles must be flagged against the boom's voltage class [S5].
On a fixed tower or telecoms mast, the basket is hoisted vertically by a separate rescue/evacuation descender anchored to a structure-rated anchor above the casualty, with a second safety line and a trained top-man belayer; this is the configuration where EN 1497 and a four-point lifting bridle are non-negotiable, and where a Neil Robertson would be unsafe because the flexible shell cannot be hoisted as a single rigid body [S3]. For ladder-shaft or wind-turbine-tower internal ladder rescue, a Neil Robertson or a stretcher specifically designed for narrow-shaft hoisting (often rated to fit a 40-50 cm clear bore) is the only geometry that physically passes the access route.
Inspection, traceability, and the harness-stretcher interface
OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502 and the parallel Work at Height Regulations framework require pre-use inspection of any rescue equipment, and a working-at-height stretcher must carry a unique ID, date of manufacture, and a documented inspection log covering webbing, shell, rivets, buckles, and bridle [S3]. Period inspection is typically annual by a competent person with a manufacturer-defined checklist, plus a pre-use visual on every shift, and any shell showing cracks, UV-bleached webbing, or deformed buckles is withdrawn.
Patient-lashing straps must clear the dorsal D-ring used for the original fall-arrest attachment, and the chest strap geometry must be compatible with the harness's sternal D-ring so that the rescue system can be re-anchored to an EN 1497 rescue D-ring or a dedicated stretcher lift-bridle without crossing the casualty's airway [S3]. Compatibility with the connecting subsystem (descender, rescue winch, anchor sling) is the same hard gate as for the original fall-arrest kit: a stretcher whose lashing cannot accept a rescue descender's karabiner is not a working-at-height rescue stretcher, it is a transport stretcher.
Selection checklist and common failure modes
A defensible 2026 spec sheet for a work-at-height rescue stretcher should list: governing standard (EN 1497 + EN 1865, or ANSI Z359.4), patient mass rating (typically 150 kg minimum, 272 kg preferred for industrial use), shell material and dimensions, bridle type and working load, lashing count (minimum 6-point, 8-point preferred for vertical lift), compatibility with the in-service harness and descender, and inspection regime [S3][S5].
The recurring failure modes in incident reports are: undersized stretcher for the actual patient mass, missing vertical-lift bridle on a basket that was only ever dragged, harness D-ring trapped under a lashing strap creating a load path the rescuer did not model, and a rescue plan that assumed a MEWP could be lowered normally when the actual fault was a hydraulic failure requiring an external hoist. Each of these is caught by a documented risk assessment and a pre-event rescue drill, not by buying a more expensive stretcher.
Trackable signals for the next planning cycle: any revision to EN 1497 or EN 1865 amendments published by CEN after 2026-09-02, and any update to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.502 Subpart M that touches rescue-subsystem timing requirements. For comparison with adjacent rescue scenarios, the basket-vs-Neil Robertson trade-off in mining rescue is detailed in Stretcher selection for mining rescue: basket vs Neil Robertson, and the dielectric and approach-distance constraints that apply when the casualty is still on a live-line boom are covered in Stretcher selection for electrical work: what actually fits.