A rescue hoist including a cable drum assembly generally including a cable drum having a cable groove and a recess positioned at one end of the cable groove, a shear pin extending transverse across the recess, and a cable assembly including a cable routed along the cable groove and a cable hook mounted to one end of the cable. In use, to secure the cable assembly to the cable drum, the cable hook is received in the recess and hooked around the shear pin according to a predefined installation sequence. In use, to provide a cable release provision, the shear pin includes spaced reduced diameter sections positioned on opposing lateral sides of the cable hook configured to shear in response to a load on the cable exceeding a predefined threshold load value.