Fire technicians complete all-night drill

The team had to demonstrate their skills on structural collapsed, confine space and vehicle rescue.

May 14, 2022

Tayla Smit 2 minutes read

In this photo are the fire technicians who completed the structural and confine space rescue exercise. Photo: Supplied

Seven City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) Urban Search and Rescue technicians put their skills into practice in an all-night drill at the Leon Ferreira Fire Station on May 5 and 6.

According to the Citys DEMS spokesperson William Ntladi, the CoE continues to empower its firefighters with more skills in all technical rescue models as per International Search and Rescue Advisory Group standards.

Seven more technicians were assessed through structural and confined space rescue exercises on May 5 from 09:50 until May 6 at 06:12.

The case study given to students was that of an earthquake registered 9.4 on a Richter scale with a depth of 25km. Multiple floor structures collapsed, patients were trapped in voids of buildings and vehicles, some crushed by heavy concrete slabs and all needs intervention of technical rescuers.

“The call came in at 09:50. Deployment took place immediately and team arrival was registered at 10:50 on the same morning with all necessary specialised rescue equipment, Ntladi explained.

Under the watchful eyes of coordinator and district manager Gerald Moswathupa, leading instructor station manager Jonas Finger and volunteer USAR-SA instructor and ex-CoE firefighter/rescue technician Toney Stacey, students completed the assignment.

A fire technician from the CoE Urban Search and Rescue completing the structural and confine space rescue exercise

Seen here are course co-ordinator D.M Gerald Moswathupa, volunteer instructor Toney Stacey and leading instructor Jonas Finger. Photo: Supplied

Rescue scene: The case study given to students was that of an earthquake registered 9,4 on a Richter scale with a depth of 25km. Multiple floor structures collapsed, ‘patients’ were trapped in voids of buildings and vehicles were crushed by heavy concrete slabs.

The team was expected to demonstrate their skills in structural collapsed, confined space and vehicle rescue, all combined.

They also had to prioritise patients in accordance to medical practice using triage system. Discipline and expectations as a USAR technician is a safe demonstration of procedures to both te

am members and public members be it the injured oar uninjured.

Technicians should prioritise saving lives and no shortcuts and tunnel vision as those can lead to detrimental effects to the entire operation. Teamwork is an absolute necessity, he added.

Ntladi added they applied themselves through the entire operation even though the evaluators threw curveballs. Aftershocks and adverse weather conditions are some of the challenges they faced.

All three patients that were alive were rescued at 15:48, 19:08 and 21:39 respectively. The deceased were recovered at 22:10, 22:32, 06:00 and 06:12 the Friday morning.

The technicians will be fully qualified Urban Search and Rescue Technicians after completing five more modules, including swift water rescue, trench rescue, machinery rescue, vehicle rescue and wilderness rescue.

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