Working at height in an emergency is always a challenge so when the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) wanted somewhere to perfect their techniques, an Island firm was happy to help.
Wight Building Materials (WBM) teamed up with fire service rescuers for an exercise based around its 32-metre high asphalt tower at its Downend headquarters. A 40-minute operation saw HIWFRS personnel work with WBM staff in a scenario involving a ‘casualty’ needing to be brought down from height using rope rescue skills.
The building materials company said it was vital for them to act out emergency response drills and practice liaising with emergency services.
Phil Loadman, WBM production manager, said:
“The drill went from providing the initial first-aid response, to contacting the fire control centre and escorting HIWFRS personnel to the incident location. We then handed over the baton to the Fire Service as they swiftly moved into action racing up our asphalt tower and lowering our casualty to safety.
“Giving the fire crew a new and different environment to practice their rope rescue skills, the exercise took exactly 40 minutes from 1st notification of incident to the Fire Service having the casualty on the ground.”
“Safety and wellbeing is the top priority here at Wight Building materials and this was a fantastic opportunity for our employees to practice their procedures and an honour for all of us to have our local fire service train with us. We very much look forward to the further training days like this one we will be hosting in the future.”
For HIWFRS, Newport station manager Mark Caplen said:
“This is a fantastic venue for our crews to test out their working at height procedures and skills. The realistic training that a setting like this provides is hugely beneficial to the team. Thank you to Wight Building Materials who we worked closely with to arrange the scenario and allowed us to use their site.”
For more details contact Gavin Foster 07535 789 713 or [email protected]
