Photo By Jack Adamyk | Colonel Craig Clemans, commanding officer, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, is...... read more read more
It may be hard to imagine in the middle of one the most waterless areas in North America that swift water rescue is a skill needed by first responders, but Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow California’s Security and Emergency Services trains continuously for just that possibility.
Deputy Chief Ryan Tworek and technical rescue crews staged the first of two swift water rescue training sessions September 23, with the aid of the private firm, Technical Rescue Trainers.
During the training staged in one of the flood control channels running throughout the base, Col. Craig C. Clemans, commanding officer, MCLB Barstow, turned out to observe the firefighters in action.
“Shortly after arriving, I was honored to be asked by the firefighters if I wanted to be the victim in a simulated water event and get ‘rescued,’” Clemans said.
The colonel acted as a motorist stranded on the roof of his car trapped in the middle of a simulated swift-moving waterway during a flash flood.
“We established stable anchoring points on shore which were used to suspend 1/2” ropes running over the accident scene,” Tworek explained. “We then sent a firefighter on a harness out on a series of pulleys along the high lines and lowered him down to the victim.”
Clemans was then outfitted in a specialized victim harness so he could be attached to the firefighter and the rope system, then both were pulled to safety by land-based crews.
“Because of the major waterways of the Kern River and the Mojave River, which run very fast during the rainy season, swift water rescue takes on a great deal of urgency,” Tworek said.
“Swift water rescue is a high risk, low frequency type of rescue, thank goodness, but we do get one or two a year,” he continued.
A majority of the 2,000-plus emergency responses MCLB Barstow Fire Emergency Services responds to every year are for mutual aid calls, helping other first responder agencies in nearby communities.
“Our agency provides all-hazard response, meaning we can respond with crews trained in hazardous materials, emergency medical, fire suppression, and technical rescue,” Tworek said.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1006 establishes the qualification standards for technical rescue. Specialized equipment and personnel trained in Rope Rescue, Structural Collapse Rescue, which is used in post-earthquake rescue response, Confined Space Rescue, and Floodwater Rescue are just a few of the technical rescue specialties, Tworek said.
“This was fantastic training and a privilege to be a small part of. I gained a deep appreciation of the physics involved with the lines and tension, and just how technical the work is that firefighters do in those rescue situations,” Clemans said.
“Without this training, there is no way someone could intuitively know what’s best to do in those situations,” the CO concluded.
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.09.2020 14:05 |
| Story ID: | 380682 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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