Partnering with Amusement Park Ride Operators

BY KEPPIE KEPLINGER

Every summer, Port Townsend, Washington, hosts the Jefferson County Fair and the Rhododendron Festival. It’s a big deal for the only incorporated city in a county that stretches west to east from the Pacific Ocean to Hood Canal and the start of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the main shipping channel to the ocean.

For 30 years, Funtastic, a company based in Portland, Oregon, has supplied the carnival attractions and rides for this event. Although the need to rescue anyone from a malfunctioning ride has never arisen, Ted Krysinski, assistant chief and training officer for East Jefferson (WA) Fire Rescue (EJFR), wondered how that would all play out should that occur. He began looking at the Ferris wheel and the Zipper ride, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Scrambler as pieces of heavy equipment rather than amusement rides. This led him to discuss “what if” scenarios with the show manager, which was the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership.

In 2007, the department conducted a four-hour drill on carnival ride rescue in Port Townsend. The drill involved EJFR firefighters and EMTs and Funtastic ride operators (photo 1). According to Krysinski, “All parties involved wanted to share more of their particular knowledge and skills in preparation for the ‘what if’ moments—some of which had already played out in other states, with other carnivals.”

(1) East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) held a practice drill with Funtastic ride operators before the carnival opened. A part of the drill used EJFR’s ladder truck in a scenario to rescue a rider from the top car on a stalled ride. (Photos courtesy of East Jefferson Fire Rescue.)

As a result, Funtastic Vice President Ron Rhew invited Krysinski to travel to Portland this past February to make a presentation at the company’s annual safety workshop. The company’s president, managers, ride operators, and maintenance personnel attended. This presentation has already been scheduled for the company’s 2009 workshop, with additional time set aside for a hands-on extrication demonstration on several of the more popular rides.

According to Krysinski, “Although we in the fire and rescue service know our business well, we couldn’t find the ‘off’ switch on the Zipper ride. Responders would need ride operators’ help if they were ever called to remove someone from one of the rides,” he continued, “and thus must respect the operators’ knowledge and expertise in understanding these pieces of heavy equipment.”

Although firefighters may be familiar with working inside burning buildings or extricating people from crashed vehicles, removing sick or injured persons from a piece of heavy equipment—construction equipment, a well driller, or a carnival ride—is not a common occurrence. Such incidents are rife with “what ifs” that only someone with the knowledge and understanding of the specific piece of equipment’s operation can assist in solving.

Krysinski added that the fire service’s tendency to think that firefighters are the only ones with the answers, the equipment, and the skills to resolve situations must be set aside, along with the preconceived notions about certain jobs people perform. In a rescue incident involving carnival rides, acknowledging the need for input and assistance from ride operators—who are experts in their field—will bring a quicker resolution to the incident. “To think that we in the fire service know it all is the first step on the road to major mistakes or even death,” states Krysinski.

“We absolutely have to work together,” agreed Ron Burback, founder and president of Funtastic Shows. “There’s a lot of learning that must take place from both sides.”

AMUSEMENT RIDE INCIDENT RESPONSE

The amusement ride operators are the fire department’s customer when responders arrive at an incident. Although the respective fields speak separate languages using distinct terminology specific to each field, this shouldn’t limit the ability to communicate.

Firefighters function within the incident command system: one boss, one plan. In some cases, this may not necessarily be the best initial approach, particularly when extricating people from carnival rides. It serves everyone’s best interest to work together to quickly and efficiently size up the situation, disable the piece of equipment using the lockout/tagout system, and stabilize the equipment by immobilizing it to prevent further injury. Only once all these tasks are accomplished can rescuers move to extricate the people from the ride.

Mutual respect comes to the forefront when safety issues surface. Krysinski came from a background in Hollywood as a grip and fully understands the disdain steel walkers have for using harnesses. But the moment the fire department arrives on the scene, it is responsible for all safety concerns. Hence, it will require ride personnel to put a harness on before scaling the ride. There is no need to add another injured person to what is already going on. Certain rules govern the moment, and the partners need to respect them.

It might be that responders must disentangle the ride from the person—remove the car or the ride away from the person instead of simply removing the person from the car or ride. Cutting a ride or car apart requires everyone’s cooperation. Ride operators’ knowledge of the configuration and mechanical parts of the car or ride is vital (photos 2, 3).

(2) The giant mechanisms powering the amusement rides present challenges to fire and rescue crews with limited knowledge of such equipment.

(3) Ride operators’ expertise here is an essential resource.

Fire EMS personnel determine the level of treatment those in need will require, whether basic life support or advanced life support. The fire department must consider the following issues in incident preplanning and response:

• Is there appropriate access to the scene?
• Environmental factors, such as weather—rides can act as lightning rods—and amount of remaining daylight. The incident may take longer than planned; be prepared with appropriate lighting for nighttime operations.
• Consider and be prepared to mitigate environmental exposure of victim.
• The type of ride and its operation—does it spin, collapse, or rotate? Operators are vital resources for this information.
• What other types of specialized equipment will the fire department need? For example, if a crane is needed, how fast can one be brought to the scene? What other available specialized resources are there in the immediate area? Forming partnerships with experienced specialists and equipment resources can pay off at an actual incident in the future.
• Rescues are labor-intensive.
• If 4,000 people need to evacuate the fair for safety reasons, there would be significant impact on the immediate community in terms of traffic congestion.
• Training is more than hands on.
• It’s all about partnerships. Establishing a partnership before an incident occurs is key.

(4) Krysinski (white helmet) and EJFR firefighters practice stabilizing a ride during an evacuation drill with Funtastic Shows ride operators.

KEPPIE KEPLINGER is the public information officer (PIO) and public education specialist for East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) in Port Townsend, Washington, and the volunteer PIO for Jefferson County (WA) Department of Emergency Management. A former newspaper publisher/editor and award-winning journalist, she was a public affairs officer for the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for almost 10 years before joining EJFR.