With the growing public expectation on the Fire Service to turn out to rescues in all situations, water awareness is just one of the training needs that was identified by WYFRS to ensure the safety of firefighters when performing water rescue procedures.
The team of instructors based at headquarters have been training watches from stations far and wide in the River Wharfe in Ilkley for the past 2 years. The training aims to provide firefighters with a general awareness for water rescue situations and highlights current flow, throw bag techniques and general safety checks on entering water.
The PR Officer followed the team for a day, setting off from Headquarters in Birkenshaw at about 10am having checked the equipment and getting changed into warm suits to wear under dry suits. This is a typical day in the life of the water awareness team:
09:00 – Prepare training kit at fire service headquarters. Ensure that ropes, buoyancy aids, boots, dry/wet suits are packed into van.
09:30 – Collect packed lunches and have tea break
10:00 – Set off on journey to Ilkley
10:45 – Meet firefighters and pumps from allocated stations at Ilkley Lido car park
11:00 – Drive in convoy to the bank of the River Wharfe
11:15 - 11:45 – Briefing session on bank of river. This includes information about the flow of the river, general safety guidance for working near water, and kit and buoyancy aid checks with buddies. Crews split into two teams of approximately five.
11:45 - 12:45 - Into the water - team one.
Demonstration by instructor of the correct position to assume if the current should knock anyone off balance and sweep that person down river. One by one, the firefighters fall in face-first, turn into the safe position and float down a few metres to meet their crewmates.
Led by the instructor, firefighters make their way up river as a team to break the current, they then experience swimming across rapids to the other side. Then they float down river again to the safety of the throw bags that the other crew (team two) have thrown in to them and then pull them safely ashore.
12:45 – 13:30 – On the riverbank - the teams swap.
Advice is given to the ‘dry watch’ on throwing the rescue lines across the river to reach their colleagues. By practising, each watch can determine whom they would nominate to carry out this task in a real incident.
13:30 – 13:45 – Debrief whilst drying off. Question and answer session and then kits are packed up and safety lines are retrieved.
13:45 – 14:45 – The trained firefighters make their way back to their stations and the training instructors visit Ilkley fire station for their packed lunch.
14:45 – 15:30 - Return journey to Birkenshaw’s headquarters.
15:30 – 17:30 – Wash down and check all kits in the appliance room at training centre and hang out to dry. Get changed and return to office to check emails/messages and record any information about the firefighters they have trained.
In context
The team are aiming to train every station by the middle of 2006, so that all firefighters in West Yorkshire will have the invaluable awareness of practising safe rescue operations in or around rivers and canals.
The River Wharfe is one of the cleanest rivers in Yorkshire, so the risk of contamination on training there is minimum. However, firefighters are reminded that following any water rescue when entering the water has taken place, they should fully decontaminate for their own safety.
In addition to every station reaching level one (water awareness) Bingley, Brighouse and Rothwell stations have received professional training to perform rescues from fast flowing and/or deep water (level two).
Level two personnel will attend all water rescue incidents across the county along with at least one Technical Rescue Officer (TRO) and the nearest station’s pumps.
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