Photos courtesy Australasian Road Rescue Organisation
A team from Werribee Fire Brigade has taken out third place in the Entrapped Rescue and Best Team Leader categories at this year’s Australasian Road Rescue Organisation Challenge, held in Tamworth from 22-24 July.
The team also placed fourth overall in Australasia.
The annual road rescue challenge is part of the highly-regarded Australasian Road Rescue Organisation (ARRO) Learning Symposium which includes presentations on vehicle technology, rescue case studies and practical workshops, and culminates in the rescue challenges.
Rescue teams from across Australia, Asia and New Zealand came together for the event, competing in multiple scenarios across three categories: Time Critical, Controlled and Entrapped. These challenges include extricating people from vehicles, dealing with trauma, and a CPR Challenge.
The scenarios use real vehicles, which are crushed beforehand to simulate the actual outcome of a crash. Accident ‘victims’ are played by actors and teams needed to consider and treat their injuries as part of rescue operations.
Werribee Fire Brigade has fielded a team in the event for several years.
This year’s team Daniel May, Dominic Trifilo, Neil Davie, Anthony Hill, Scott Green and Trevor Weston competed in six events across the weekend including Entrapped, Controlled, Time critical, CPR Challenge, and two Trauma events.
Team leader Daniel May, Werribee Firefighter and rescue operator, said it was an honour representing CFA and competing alongside interstate and international colleagues.
"Coming home with two third places and a fourth in the Trauma challenge is something the team should be proud of and we were also happy to walk away with a fourth overall in Australasia,” Daniel said.
“We thought we would do a tad better but we are pretty hard markers on ourselves.
“We are already reviewing what can be improved for next year’s competition.”
Daniel said competing in the event was always a great learning and development opportunity.
“I’m proud to compete alongside some of the best technical operators I’ve worked with,” he said.
“The content that we bring home to the wider brigade makes us better rescue technicians which ultimately leads to better and more efficient practices.
“This results in better patient outcomes, quicker extrication times and a reduction in the road toll which is a win for all.”
This year was the 25th anniversary of the event and the first time it has been able to be held since 2019 due to the pandemic.
For more information on the competition visit the ARRO Facebook page.
| Submitted by |
Shaunnagh O'Loughlin |