One of two participating Fire and Rescue NSW teams, Forster’s local brigade recently sent six participants down to Warragul, Victoria, for the Australasian Road Rescue Challenge. It is the second time they have sent a team to the event, which is hosted by the Australasian Road Rescue Organisation with membership across the SES, ambulance and fire services. Last year they came third at Alice Springs in the time specific event.  But this year the competition was a little tougher.

“We didn’t do as well as we had hoped,” admitted team leader and brigade captain Paul Langley, referring to the winning team from New Zealand as “incredible”. 

“There were 19 teams this year. We were working on all Holden vehicles, which have laminated steel to protect passengers. It made ripping body parts off cars off very difficult,” he said, contrasting it to last year’s dilapidated cars which were easier to rip apart.

The events are staged across three scenarios: controlled, time specific and entrapment. Teams are literally faced with a scene which might include a rolled car, a mannequin and a person inside with fictional injuries. 

“They might have a blood sack up their armpit, so they can squirt blood. The car might be impaled. They might be stuck with a rail across their legs, have a fake arm trapped under the car, have live wires around. Our job is to assess then stabilise the victims within 30 minutes.”

“It can be very dramatic, with screaming, thrashing, bits of bone hanging out… You’d see people wandering around all made-up with bits staged for their next event.”

Within the team were two medics, three ‘toolies’, and the team leader. Each person has their own assessor and individual points go towards an overall team score. 

Captain Langley said participating in such events are excellent for developing skills with equipment under pressure, without the real threat of life and death. 

“A lot of the equipment will be introduced to the station in the future, so we got some familiarity with it which was great.”