Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 17/09/2009 09:01

A specialist team from Cornwall County Fire Brigade has won 6th place in a national competition to judge their ability to extract casualties from a series of simulated road traffic collisions.

Forty five teams from fire services across the country competed in the extrication challenge organised by the UK Rescue Organisation and hosted by Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service in Glasgow.

The team from Cornwall County Fire Brigade made up of six firefighters from Camborne, Redruth and Mullion Community Fire Stations were assessed in three areas – command and control; technical rescue which includes the deployment of specialist cutting equipment; and medical care.

At the culmination of the two day competition, the team from Cornwall were placed 6th overall from forty five entrants and may now be eligible to attend the world championships in 2010.

Chief Fire Officer Des Tidbury said: “I am very pleased with this great team performance which is just reward for the time and commitment put in by our firefighters. The emphasis is on developing and promoting ‘Best Safe Practice’ and improving skills so that we are better able to deliver a professional service to the public.”

Cornwall Council cabinet member for stronger communities Lance Kennedy said: “'This is an excellent example of the skill of firefighters in Cornwall. I congratulate the team on an outstanding achievement.”

Team Leader Robert Martin from Camborne Community Fire Station said: “The experience, skill and knowledge that the team has developed in training for, and that have been picked up during, this event will be used to great effect when we next have to attend a road traffic collision. We would like to extend our thanks to all at Sims Metals in Camborne for their continued support in supplying scrapped vehicles for us to train on. I would also like to particularly thank Ben Davis from Pengegon Motors for his assistance.”

Notes to editiors:

1st Place - Northumberland Fire and Rescue

2nd Place - South Wales Fire and Rescue

3rd Place - London Fire Brigade – A

The UKRO is responsible for the UK’s Emergency Rescue Services annual challenge calendar. With links into every rescue service in the UK, the UKRO demands the best from every service if they are to participate in professional challenges. http://www.ukro.org/

Cornwall County Fire Brigade extrication team members are

Crew Manager Robert Martin
Crew Manager Keith Boyd
Crew Manager Darren Rowe
Firefighter Paul Brown
Station Manager Peter Tonkin
Firefighter Chris Williams (medic)

Photograph: Cornwall County Fire Brigade’s team works on a simulated road traffic collision at the UK Rescue Organisation Challenge.