Fire and rescue teams enjoyed a hot weekend of competition and camaraderie at the 15th annual B.C. Regional Auto Extrication Challenge in Sechelt.
Ten teams competed for top honours and took home new knowledge and skills about first response procedures when attending a vehicle accident."It just went flawlessly," a pleased fire Chief Bill Higgs said following the competition.
Last weekend, teams competed in three classes: limited, unlimited and rapid extrication. In the limited trials, teams were restricted to the use of hand tools and had 20 minutes to work on a scene. In unlimited they could also use hydraulic tools like the Jaws of Life to aide in recovery. "The judges want the props set up a certain way because they want a certain outcome and challenges," Higgs said. "They need the teams to see what is critically wrong with a scene."
Mock collisions were created that included potential hazards to the rescue teams such as live gas leaks and unsteady cars or fallen trees that needed to be stabilized before crews moved in to save the victim. If a team missed any of these hazards, points were docked from their overall score.
Two medics portrayed the crash victims throughout the weekend so that judging of squads' response to the patient was evaluated consistently.
One of the crash actors, Rita McQueen a paramedic at the Sechelt ambulance station, said it was hard work being a casualty. At one point, she was upside down inside a rolled vehicle for 30 minutes in full suit and protective head cover in temperatures in the high 20s as the crew attending the scene did their work. Her job was to inform the medic judge after each trial as to how she was treated verbally and physically by the attending team.
Rapid extrication differed in part because crews were timed on how fast they removed a patient from an accident scene. The mock exercise was based on the fact that loss of life was immanent. In limited and unlimited, the patient's life was not in immediate risk and teams took as much time as they needed to ensure the safest procedure for removal of the victim. Janet See, Beaver Creek Fire Department's medic from Port Alberni said her first time competing was a positive one and she even received high praise from one of the judges for her performance.
The 24-year-old was one of a handful of women competing and judging during the weekend and she said more young women should consider getting into fire fighting. "There's equal treatment and you actually get more respect sometimes. There's nothing to be intimidated about," See said.Angelina Banks from Cumberland agreed.
"Don't be afraid or pressured by the fact you are a girl. You need to be strong, have inner core strength and lift properly but they teach you all that. It's a team effort," Banks said.
Overall winner of the competition was the Whistler Fire and Rescue squad followed by Leduc County, Nisku from Alberta. In third place was Comox Valley Combined and in a surprising fourth place was Sechelt's very own rookie squad who had an opportunity to compete when one of the registered teams dropped out at the last minute.
