Trainers from the Learning and Development department put together the day to offer those across the fire, police and ambulance services, as well as highways teams, the opportunity to enhance their understanding and learn more about how HIWFRS operate at the scene of a road traffic incident.
The event, sponsored by 3SFire, proved so popular that an additional session was put on in the afternoon, with more than 100 attendees in the morning and around 65 in the afternoon. The first session was opened by Station Manager for Rescue and Specialist Response, Stu Botto.
Lead RTC Trainer for HIWFRS, Watch Manager Rob Barrow said:
“We set out to deliver a session to the partners we work closely with during road traffic incidents, raising their awareness and understanding of the skills and techniques our crews use every day.
“As emergency services, we work incredibly well alongside each other, with the common goal of saving lives. Today’s sessions were designed to further improve how we operate.
“The event was well attended and successfully delivered, collectively improving our response to incidents on the road network across Hampshire and Isle of Wight.”
The sessions were designed to support the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) which HIWFRS adheres to, a framework which helps emergency workers from different agencies work effectively together to save lives and help resolve incidents.
During the day the HIWFRS trainers were able to demonstrate our Immediate Emergency Care capability, which allows firefighters to provide initial medical treatment to casualties.
The trainers explained the difference between ‘physically trapped’ and ‘medically trapped’ casualties, as well as the new techniques the fire service uses at operational incidents instead of the traditional ‘full roof removal’ method. With the support of the EXIT Project Data and Modern Vehicle Technology, teams have evolved their tactics to create space more efficiently using modern space creation techniques to ensure a casualty can be extricated as soon as possible.
The potential dangers of electrical vehicles, as well as hybrid vehicles, was another important factor the trainers focused on. The number of electric vehicles on our roads continues to increase, so it was important the risks associated with these vehicle types were highlighted, and an awareness given of how HIWFRS teams have adapted their techniques to mitigate these risks.
Other topics covered included spinal injury rescues, vehicle relocation, casualty terminology and self-extrication.
Although our teams are highly trained to deal with these types of incident, we would of course prefer not to have to use these skills out on the roads across Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Ensure you stay safe when behind the wheel by checking out our guidance over on our website.