Sechelt firefighters demonstrated their ingenuity at extracting car crash victims from crumpled vehicles with only the use of basic tools, by winning third place in a challenge at last weekend's Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee (TERC) British Columbia regional extrication challenge in Port Alberni.
Tyrel Brackett, Wayne Mowat, Mike Wainwright, Colin Davis, Bill Elsner, Darren Caldwell and Shane Ellis competed for Sechelt, facing down eight other teams from around the province. Each team competed in three challenges: the limited competition, which tests firefighters' ingenuity as they must extricate a patient from a vehicle using limited tools; the unlimited competition, which tests their technique using any and every tool; and the rapid extrication, which emphasizes speed.
Sechelt placed third in the limited competition, while their ranking in the two other competitions isn't yet available, as only the top three results have been released to date.
"We're just so pleased to be in the top three on the limited competition, especially for a brand new team," said Sechelt Fire Chief Bill Higgs, noting that Bracket, Mowat and Davis have been with the department for just one and a half years, and only Wainwright had competed previously.
This victory follows close on the heels of a top-10 finish for firefighters Rob McCourt, Mat Gilroy, Dave Starnes, Robb Stockwell, Trevor Pike, Adam Bramham and Dwight Davison - who placed ninth out of 30 teams at one of the challenges at TERC's North American vehicle rescue challenge Sept. 18 to 25 in Calgary. That competition also featured limited, unlimited and rapid extrication challenges.
Higgs said this second team won its invite to the prestigious international competition after four or five years of competing successfully at the regional level.
"Just being invited to go [to the Calgary competition] was a big honour," he said. "And it was a very good showing."
Sechelt placed ninth out of 30 teams in the rapid extrication challenge. The team's ranking in the two other competitions isn't yet available, as only the top 10 results have been released to date.
Higgs said that auto extrication is a top priority for the department, and a key area where local firefighters can have an impact.
"I've gone to thousands of fires in my career and it's very, very rare that we can go in and rescue someone from a house, because normally they're out of the house already or they've succumbed to the fire," he said. "But in a car crash, every single time we go, someone's in the car and they're usually injured and they need to be helped out of there. So there's more of a chance for the fire service to save a life doing auto extrication than anything else."
Higgs attributes his firefighters' auto extrication skills to both the use of the department's Mason Road training site, plus the emphasis the department places on that skill set.
"The more we focus on [auto extrication] and the more priority we put on it, the more props and area we have to train, the better we can do," he said.
