Rescue Challenge `99
DAVID BOGOZ
KENNETH E. SALFELDER
Your technical rescue team is dispatched for a parking garage collapse. Is your team up for the challenge? This is just one of the questions answered for those who participated in the 5th Annual Rescue Challenge hosted by the Alexandria (VA) and Arlington County (VA) Fire Departments. The event was held in Northern Virginia during the last week of April.
The Committee for Rescue Challenge 1999, which began meeting in October 1998, wanted to improve on the successful 1998 Challenge. This was achieved by offering full-day instead of half-day exercises and planning the exercises so that two teams could work together instead of only one team at a time.
Nine teams from 12 jurisdictions participated: Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Roanoke Valley, and Salem, Virginia; Howard County, Maryland; and a U.S. Army engineering company from Fort Belvoir.
Participants attended a team leader meeting the Sunday night before the Challenge. Each team was given a team leader handbook, which presented a brief outline of the scenario, the location, directions from the hotel to the scenario sites, and phone numbers to call in case of an emergency.
A team safety meeting was held each morning before the day`s events to review problems that occurred the previous day and address concerns of team members. Following each event was a roundtable discussion during which methods, styles, and techniques were reviewed.
SCENARIOS
The following events were held at four scenario locations:
Simulated Parking Garage Collapse: Vulcan Material Yard, Alexandria. Four double “T” concrete beams, approximately 50 feet long and eight feet wide, were used. They were stacked two high and placed end to end. A car was placed on its side between the ends. A six-inch-thick concrete slab had to be breached before entry could be made into the “collapse zone.” Various obstacles such as wood partitions, steel plate, rebar, metal, and rubble had to be negotiated while crawling through the void. When reaching the end of the first beam, the teams encountered a vehicle they had to get through. After making their way through the car, more obstacles were encountered until the “victims” were located. At that time, the victim was packaged and removed from the entrapment area.
Team members used a variety of tools that were available at the site. Air demolition tools, electric demolition hammers and rotary hammers, air compressors, and reciprocating saws were staged. Teams also brought their own cache of tools and equipment. The two FEMA task force teams participating used some of their own equipment at the sites.
Obstacle Course. The second half of this scenario, the obstacle course, is fully explained in the article “Rescue Challenge: Moving Heavy Objects” on page 93.
Rope Rescue Scenario: Vulcan Material Quarry, Lonon, Virginia. This is a working quarry, making safety even more of a consideration than usual. The objective was to move a simulated victim in a stokes basket through a prescribed course. Each team used numerous rope skills–including rappelling, ascending, lowering, hauling, and using horizontal tensioned lines.
Simulated Building Collapse: Fort Belvoir Army Base. This base is in the process of having its barracks demolished. The Army made these buildings available to local fire departments after asbestos abatement work was completed. Members of the Fairfax County USAR team designed the structural collapse simulator. Each team had to construct raker shoring systems before entering the building. After entering the building, additional shoring had to be built before entering the simulator. A human HabitrailT was built and filled with various debris and victims. Again, a variety of tools were available at the site, as was all the needed lumber.
Confined Space Incident: Fairfax County Fire And Rescue Academy. This site challenged teams with several complex confined space situations based on a post-building collapse scenario. There were multiple entry points and more than five victims. In addition to making confined space entries, the teams used advanced searching and breaching techniques.
Safety considerations were considered for each scenario. All scenarios followed all current Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Virginia Department of Fire Programs guidelines. All sites had a site safety facilitator and a team safety officer. Taking into consideration the inherent dangers of technical rescue operations, we can be thankful that no serious injury occurred during any of the events.
Rescue Challenge 2000 will move to the Roanoke Valley area of Virginia, where it will be held for two years. Participants will be offered a vast array of new and challenging scenarios.
LESSONS LEARNED
In the two years that Northern Virginia has hosted the Rescue Challenge, we have learned much.
You must plan early.
It is important to develop good working relationships with private industry.
Anticipating the unexpected can make your task much easier.
Logistical needs such as tools, maps, food, comfort facilities, and communication equipment are critical.
Each site must have its own logistical support person to handle equipment problems that may arise.
Communications between sites are vital. Cellular phones and radios were provided at each site.
Teamwork and flexibility are needed to make events such as this one successful.
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DAVID BOGOZ is a 13-year member of the Alexandria (VA) Fire Department, assigned to Rescue Engine 206. He has been a member of the Technical Rescue Team for six years and an adjunct instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs since 1975.
KENNETH E. SALFELDER, a member of the fire service since 1975, has spent the past 15 years in the Alexandria (VA) Fire Department, where he is assigned to Rescue Engine 206. He has been a member of the Technical Rescue Team for 10 years and is a state-certified fire instructor.
