Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

n/a at 10/09/2

Firefighters from the retained crew at Camborne Fire Station are celebrating their success at the National Extrication Challenge 2002, held at the Tyne and Wear training centre, which saw them praised for giving the best performance by a retained team in the prestigious competition.

The annual event challenges firefighters from across Britain to compete against each other in gruelling conditions. The aim of the ‘extrication challenge’ is to rescue a trapped person from a road traffic accident scenario. Four highly trained officers from Fire Brigades and Fire Colleges across the country judge teams on their ability to assess the situation, extricate casualties, and their medical knowledge - all within a time of just twenty minutes.

Most of the 52 teams taking part in this year’s tough competition were from wholetime fire stations. It is very unusual to have a team comprised of totally retained fire fighters and the judges were very impressed with the Cornwall team, with Head Judge Mick Mcarthy describing their performance as “the best from a retained team in the competition. “

The team from Cornwall -Leading Firefighter Robert Martin and Firefighters Chris Ellis, Wynroe Heath, Keith Boyd, and Robert Watts, and Firefighter Lee Medlyn as reserve – were delighted with their success, which saw them take 26th place in the competition with 352 marks.

The top three teams were County Durham and Darlington ( with 415 marks); North Wales (414 marks) and Royal Berkshire and FR Slough (409 marks). These teams will go to Dallas in 2003 to represent the UK in the World Championships.
The training for the event started five weeks before the challenge. Leading Firefighter Robert Martin had previously visited Devon Fire and Rescue to discover the types of scenario which could be set, the rules of the competition and the range of equipment permitted. With this information on board he returned to Cornwall and started getting his team into shape.

Training over the next few weeks took place mainly at Simms Scrap Yard, who had kindly offered to donate as many scrap cars as the team needed to practice. In their own time the team trained at least three times a week, cutting up an average three cars a night.

They were allowed to use the road traffic accident cutting equipment from Cornwall Fire Brigade although, as the Brigade only has two sets of equipment like this – on the rescue tenders at Camborne and Bodmin. – this equipment also had to be available for emergencies.

The team was divided into three sections under Robert’s instructions – with one casualty carer, two actual cutters, one gaffer and one crew commander, who was not allowed to assist with any equipment and could only advise. A marking system provided by Tyne and Wear meant the team were able to have some idea of what they would be up against on the day.

Training became more intensive during the last two weeks . Westcountry Ambulance helped with the training of the casualty carer: - Firefighter Robert Watts - and the rest of the team managed to obtain a demonstration from the tool manufacturers - Clan Tools - who would be supplying the cutting equipment during the competition. (The Cornwall Brigade uses Hirst Equipment).

Unfortunately the day before the competition Firefighter Ellis broke his foot in a pavement accident, forcing the reserve Firefighter Medlyn to step into his place.
The challenge was held in August , with Cornwall drawing 14th slot. As the team prepared to tackle their ‘extrication challenge’ they were faced with a car which had had such a severe rear impact that its rear wasn’t touching the ground and the casualty (an actor) was trapped in the back of the car.

After much hard work, and with the four judges continuously watching their every move, the Cornwall team managed to secure the casualty to the spine board just as the whistle sounded. It was all over.

“After the challenge we were given feedback by the judges in a hot debrief “said Leading Firefighter Robert Martin. “Everything they said was very positive and we were thrilled to learn that we had come 26th out of 52 teams who took part . “

“The challenge taught us a lot of new cutting techniques which we can now put into action in real life scenarios and potentially could help us to save lives. This extra experience is enough to make the whole event worthwhile, as well as the knowledge that we represented Cornwall County Fire Brigade well”

The team would like to give thanks to Malcolm Heath from Simms Scrap Yard, Mill Auto Supplies, Paramedic Supervisor Dave Pascoe and Paramedics Mike Hocking and Roger Toy, from the Westcountry Ambulance Trust; Adrian Miles, the photographer and Divisional Officer Dave Turpin, from Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade.

ENDS

AS THE CREW ARE RETAINED IF YOU WANT FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO DO INTERVIEWS WITH THE CREW PLEASE CONTACT ADO HICK ON 01209 712316 SO HE CAN ARRANGE THIS. IF ADO HICK IS NOT THERE PLEASE ASK FOR THE WATCH COMMANDER