Earlier this year HIWFRS were invited to take part in the Australasian Road Rescue Organisation annual competition, the equivalent of the UK’s UKRO challenge, which is chaired by Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin.
As plans developed it was agreed with New South Wales FRS to maximise the opportunity to share knowledge and skills between the two organisations.
HIWFRS Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin, said:
“This was a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and training with our colleagues in Australia.
“We were able to share our expertise in maritime firefighting, hazardous materials and high-level rescue. They were able to share their knowledge and experience in dealing with wildfires and their approach to decontamination.
“The knowledge from this trip will be shared across HIWFRS and nationally to help improve what we do.”
The advanced research into firefighter decontamination and dedicated systems developed by the New South Wales FRS to manage the risk of contaminants, is an area the UK contingent are keen to bring back and replicate in this country.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire officers were able to accompany their Australian counterparts and witness the approaches they take to flood, wildfire, hazmat and maritime incidents.
HIWFRS fire officers were able to shadow bush fire experts, discuss maritime planning and response in visits to ports in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, as well as experience water and flood incident management from Australia’s leading service.
Station Manager Carl Halewood said:
“The insight into the work of organisations and experts across the world improves our mutual understanding between teams working in different and challenging conditions.
“It was an invaluable experience that saw us develop strong relationships with our international colleagues, return with lots of knowledge to share, and having laid the foundations for a global partnership.”
Eight of the HIWFRS USAR team were part of the contingent, sharing their experiences from their recent International Search and Rescue deployments to Jersey and Turkey to a packed out audience of Australian USAR firefighters.
The visit climaxed with the ARRO competition where the HIWFRS team scooped some of the top prizes such as third-place in the CPR challenge and first-place in the Industrial Rescue Challenge.
The team were also voted the winners of the Spirit of the Challenge award, proudly chosen by their international colleagues who came from across Australia and even Hong Kong.
Station Manager Ryan Matthews said:
“It was completely unexpected to see our teams pick up so much silverware, but their professional performance demonstrated the skills and high standards we expect from Hampshire and Isle of Wight firefighters.
“Taking home the Spirit of the Challenge prize shows that our team integrated well with our hosts and international colleagues, embodying the spirit of the event and the exchange.”
The mutual learning experience has seen fresh approaches to firefighting tactics, different ways of utilising advanced technology to assist on the fire ground and knowledge of specialist equipment designed to help resolve incidents, brought back to the UK to be shared with HIWFRS teams to improve our operational response.
Station Manager Larry Mackrell said:
“We were well looked after and supported by our hosts throughout the visit in Sydney and Adelaide, and we now look forward to welcoming their teams to Hampshire and Isle of Wight in the near future and continue our mutually beneficial exchange.”
HIWFRS is already benefiting from the ongoing exchange programme with the Sisters Camp Sherman Fire District in Oregon, USA. A team of four firefighters travelled across the Atlantic last month to learn about their response to wildfire and medical incidents.