Firefighters receive specialized rescue training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Katherine Windish
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  The 31st Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters received specialized rescue training Aug. 16 to Sept. 3, to increase their mission capability and readiness.

The 80-hour training course included classroom education and 73 hours of practical application consisting of automobile extrication, technical rope and confined space rescues.

"The people who are chosen for this course are the cream of the crop of Air Force firefighters," said Staff Sgt. Ronald Lee, U.S. Air Forces in Europe Fire Academy instructor. "This training is a privilege and will help these phenomenal firefighters gain new skills that are fundamental for their job."

Sergeant Lee, Tech. Sgt. Jessie Cadavid and Staff Sgt. Christopher Stephens comprise the mobile training team from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, that came to Aviano to conduct the course. The team travels to USAFE bases to provide certification training to firefighters.

The training team used automobile extrication techniques on 15 cars, using firefighter tools and techniques to learn how to safely remove simulated victims. They also used different technical rope procedures, rescuing victims by ascending and descending buildings using rope and pulley systems. The final block of training is confined space rescue, using a controlled zip line system to learn how to rescue impaired victims.

"This is a highly motivated class that works great as a team," said Sergeant Stephens. "Not only will this course build knowledge and confidence individually, it will build unit cohesion. You can fail as an individual, but you can also fail as a team."

The firefighters were evaluated after each block of training to receive certification for each passed evaluation.

"It's important to get more one-on-one training in specialized technical rescues like this," said Senior Airman John Sherman, 31st CES firefighter. "This is training that will definitely be useful when applied to our mission, especially vehicle extrication, which will be used on a day-to-day basis."

Tech. Sgt. John Healey, 31st CES firefighter, said this training will greatly benefit him and the unit.

"All the skills we have learned in the course are applicable to our mission," said Sergeant Healey. "The instructors were knowledgeable and worked hard to impart their knowledge and experience to train us better."