Humberside fire authority honours Trauma World Champions

It was all smiles at the end of an informative Fire Authority Member Day when the Chair, Councillor John Briggs, presented trophies won at the recent World Rescue Challenge 2014 held last month at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh.
By Stephanie Bateman
Published 2nd Dec 2014, 08:50 BST
Pictured above from left to right: Vince Larvin of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Shaun Rudland, YAS paramedic Andy Wallace, Councillor John Briggs and Chief Fire Officer Dene Sanders.Pictured above from left to right: Vince Larvin of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Shaun Rudland, YAS paramedic Andy Wallace, Councillor John Briggs and Chief Fire Officer Dene Sanders.
Pictured above from left to right: Vince Larvin of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Shaun Rudland, YAS paramedic Andy Wallace, Councillor John Briggs and Chief Fire Officer Dene Sanders.

Up to thirty international teams participated in both the Extrication and Trauma challenges. The Extrication team consisted of six members: the incident commander, two medics, two technical rescue staff and one person responsible for operational support. The Trauma team was made up of two medics.

Extrication teams competed in various rotations, including a complex, standard and rapid challenge as well as a specific medical extrication and even a scenario with limited tools to test the teams’ resourcefulness and quick thinking. A panel of international assessors observed all facets of each team including incident command, medical and technical rescue.

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The HFRS team showed exceptional skill, speed and flexibility when they took the World Trauma title which involved treating multiple casualties including a woman going into labour.

Trauma Team member Shaun Rudland of West Hull Fire Station assessed each scene quickly and accurately and then co-ordinated with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) paramedic Andy Wallace in order to treat serious injuries such as amputations and multiple fractures.

The Extrication team also ranked second in the Limited Extraction category which gave them fourth place overall at the event which moves on to Lisbon in 2015.

Chief Fire Officer Dene Sanders was thrilled with the result: “Our teams constantly train for this type of incident and are highly skilled in extrication techniques. The teamwork with Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics is key to providing better outcomes at these serious incidents. To be crowned World Champions in this specific area is testament to the expert training and hard work of all concerned and shows that communities across our region know that they have the very best on hand should the worst happen.”

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Councillor Briggs presented the awards in front of fellow Fire Authority members, HFRS senior officers and families of the successful team. He too was proud of their achievement: “It is great to hear about this partnership work with our colleagues at Yorkshire Ambulance Service. Ultimately this is what we all do – save lives. These teams have shown what exceptional people we have in the Fire Service who are trained to save lives at our roadsides every day.”