Skills to save lives

HELEN KREFT

FIREFIGHTERS have honed their emergency rescue skills by 'saving' six lives in a mock-up of a major car crash staged in Burton.

110509 RTA Simulation - BM The Blue Watch crew from Burton Fire Station, in Moor Street, organised the training exercise on Monday night at a disused yard off Bond Street, to test firefighters' skills at accessing, assessing, treating and freeing injured drivers and passengers from road smashes.

A target response vehicle and appliances from Burton and Barton-under-Needwood, as well as Stafford's rescue tenders, all took part in the training exercise.

Watch manager Andy Oakley said: "Each year, each station organises a reconstruction for training purposes and this year it is Burton's turn.

"Part of this exercise is to see how fire crews tackle large scale incidents and to test their extrication techniques, but also to test their trauma care, because sometimes firefighters may be the first on the scene at an accident.

"The crews involved start by checking for any fire and then assessing what injuries the casualties have sustained.

"They then use cutting equipment to provide space for them to access the casualties and then treat them for injuries. They will use long boards to remove the patient on."

Once the exercise is completed, firefighters are debriefed on their strengths and weaknesses and areas of development.

Watch manager Oakley said: "It has been a real success and one that we can share with many fire crews across Staffordshire, many of whom have never worked together before."