“The Pit and the Pendulum” Inspires Medical Evacuation Helicopter Rescue Approaches

Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum,” written approximately a decade after his studies at the U.S. Military Academy (USMA), has inspired new approaches for medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) helicopter rescues. A MEDEVAC helicopter rescue is conducted by attaching a patient to the end of a cable and reeling the cable upward to retrieve the patient into the helicopter. The cable needs to shorten, and the oscillation needs to decrease. In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the narrator observes an increasing oscillation as the cable length increases. In our article, we apply variable length sling hoist control approaches at specific points in time of the swing. In this way, a cable can be stabilized and lead to controlled rescues.