Fire fighters learn rescue skills

FIRE fighters at the Gerehu station had the opportunity to learn road accident rescue techniques and equipment installed on their fire engine.
Station commander John Gererasi said a month’s training was compulsory for his personnel to be prepared when attending to road accidents.
“The PNG Fire Service not only respond to fire emergency calls but will also attend to other emergency including road accidents requiring rescuing of entrapped vehicle occupants,” he said. “The fire trucks are equipped with both firefighting and road accident rescue equipment enabling fire fighters to be able to attend to any emergency situation.
“But it is important for them to know how to use ethe equipment.”
Tactical instructor, Inspector Turagil Henry, who conducted the training, said there were different types of road accidents and knowing which rescue and extrication technique to use was important in rescuing trapped passengers.
“I am satisfied with the efforts of the officers and their eagerness to learn to prepare and respond to road crash rescue, establishing and maintaining rescue scene safety, managing casualties from entrapment and preserving the incident scene and completing post operational activities,” he said.
“The training is competency based so they will be assessed on how well they can work as a team.”