Hampshire and Isle of Wight teams specialising in extracting casualties from vehicles, treating those with trauma, and rope rescues will be heading to the West Midlands this weekend to showcase their skills.
Around 40 fire services from across the UK, as well as overseas, will be represented at the Smithfield site in Birmingham’s city centre.
HIWFRS Officer-In-Charge Rob Barrow said:
“Beyond our operational competency training, we regularly take part in additional training allowing us to practice and develop our techniques for competition, but also to trial new methods and equipment.
“We’re excited about the challenges we’ll face, and about doing something we love in a new city environment in front of a crowd of visitors, demonstrating the skills and abilities firefighters use to save lives every day across the country.”
One of the challenges the extrication team will face will involve a road traffic collision involving a heavy goods vehicle, which will allow them to demonstrate their advanced rescue techniques, stabilisation skills and state-of-the-art cutting equipment.
Another challenge will see them work against the clock in a 30-minute rescue scenario, where the role-playing casualties will assess them on their performance.
The extrication team includes Rob Barrow, watch managers Steve Morris and Andy Hunt, crew manager Jack Williams and firefighters Greg Moss and Max Silver.
The trauma challenge involves a two-person team consisting of Rob Barrow and Steve Morris, working to assess and treat a casualty before handing the patient over to paramedics. They will be scored on scene safety, initial patient contact, assessment, treatment and handover.
The rope challenge which kicks off on Friday, will involve crews facing several scenarios designed to test their command, technical and medical skills. Hampshire and Isle of Wight will be represented by Crew Manager Alec Bowen, Watch Manager Dan Eves, Crew Manager Josh Challis and firefighters Alex Spreadbury and Steve White from Eastleigh Fire Station.
Rob Barrow said:
“UKRO allows us to learn new techniques and procedures through the completion of dedicated educational workshops and competition.
“We then can implement what we have learnt through Learning and Development ensuring our operational teams have the latest RTC training and up-to-date information.”
Throughout the weekend the teams will also take part in workshops tailored to sharing ideas and learning from colleagues from across the country.
For the first time, the Festival of Rescue will also involve a special competition for Fire Cadets as well as the UK Firefighter Fitness Challenge.
The HIWFRS headquarters in Eastleigh hosted the annual festival back in 2016, with Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin currently the Chair of UKRO, with former Deputy Chief Fire Officer Steve Apter, a patron for the organisation’s charity.