Firefighters on the road

Feilding’s first responders to vehicle crashes have gone toe to toe with the best in New Zealand during a road crash rescue challenge. Six of the town’s volunteer firefighters went to Inglewood, Taranaki, to compete in the United Fire Brigades’ Association’s national road crash rescue challenge from June 21-26. Member Debbie Bates said the team was made up of three technical officers, two medics and a team leader. They completed three realistic scenarios. Two were with live patients with fake wounds and the other with a mannequin. They were judged on their approach, safety, location and treatment of the patient, all in less than 30 minutes. ‘‘Sound easy? Think again,’’ Bates said. ‘‘The cars were heavily wrecked, quite often on the roof or side, with most if not all normal entry points blocked – and there was a live person inside that they had to get out, safely. This takes experience and skill, practise and hard work, long before this competition started.’’ The scenario could be anything from a heart attack to dog bites, or gun shot wound to a bee sting, Bates said. ‘‘They never know what they will get so they need to know what they are doing.’’ The team returned to Manawatu¯ with a silver medal, behind Geraldine, which placed first. The team now heads to Australia this month to represent New Zealand, along with Geraldine and Wanaka, to compete at the Australasian Road Crash Rescue Challenge. The team celebrated with a car wash on June 30, at the Feilding Information centre, which raised $1200 for Manchester House.