Imagine you’re working underground in one of the town’s storm sewers. It’s dark, cramped, and few people above ground even know you’re down there if anything was to go wrong.
Then, that last fear comes horribly true.
Who could help you? What could they do?
That’s the scenario the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service got a taste of last Thursday as local firefighters underwent confined space rescue training in the storm sewer entrance in the parking lot at Fort Frances High School.
Under the tutelage of Paul Cousineau, who at one time headed up the rescue crew at the paper mill here, firefighters learned, among other things, how to use riggings and harnesses to quickly and safely raise and lower themselves through a manhole opening and into a storm sewer entrance.
“I’d been thinking of possible scenarios and thought, ‘If someone was in a storm sewer or other confined space, how would we rescue them?’” said Fort Frances Fire Department training officer Kirk Armstrong, who arranged the training with Cousineau.
“It’s something we hadn’t done before,” he added.
“If something happens, it’s us who are going to be called. We have to be ready,” said fellow firefighter Rod Davis.
Firefighter Rob Dokuchie noted many types of jobs, whether it’s Bell technicians, Union Gas employees, or town workers, go underground to do various tasks here in town.
As such, the possibility of problems arising is very real.
Armstrong said it quickly became apparent during last Thursday’s training that learning to quickly get into a confined space to make a rescue is only the first step—getting the victim out could be the hard part.
“If a person being rescued didn’t have a harness on, it would be pretty tough to get out of there,” he noted, adding putting a harness like the type the firefighters wear onto a victim in a confined space would be difficult to do.
Given this, acquiring a “diaper” (a different type of harness the rescued person easily could sit in and be hauled out of the space) is something the local fire department may consider, said Armstrong.
Other potential difficulties in confined space rescue include the possibility of serious injury to the victim complicating their safe extrication (e.g., broken bones), high water, electrical hazards, and the presence of gases.
Dokuchie said last Thursday’s training only would be the first of many confined space rescue exercises.
Armstrong added more practice will enable firefighters to work out solutions to various possible situations that could arise.
For instance, future exercises might see a “victim” feigning unconsciousness so firefighters could learn to deal with that in a confined space rescue scenario.
“We’re all pretty excited about it,” said Dokuchie. “We’re actually able to assume a greater role in this type of rescue thanks to training like this.”
“We’re always happy to get more training,” echoed Davis.
In related news, one of the exercises local firefighters will do next month is “high angle training,” where they practice using vertical rigging to lower rescue victims off buildings.
They also will be undergoing search and rescue and confined space rescue training with Charlie Turgeon and “The Challenger” fire simulator on May 27.
Firefighters from International Falls, Mn. also have been invited to take part in that exercise.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
