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Members of the Charleston Fire Department test out new camera equipment that can be used for search and rescue operations. The camera can be mounted on a flexible rod, an extendable pole or a rope.

Firefighters trained on various rescues

By: Erin Miller/ City Editor

Posted: 4/21/05

The Charleston Fire Department received $160,000 in equipment from the state of Illinois, which enables it to serve 14 southern and eastern Illinois counties in the event of a rescue situation.

The fire department is a part of the state's regional response team for technical rescue, said Pat Goodwin, captain of Charleston Fire and Rescue.

These firefighters will be trained to do various rescues, such as collapsed buildings, confined spaces or even from a water tower, Goodwin said.

"We are thrilled to be considered a state team," he said.

The Charleston Regional Technical Rescue Team includes firefighters from Charleston, Mattoon and Sullivan, he said.

Right now, the team has 95 percent of their equipment, Goodwin said.

This week, the team has watched presentations on the equipment so it could familiarize itself with these tools.

Three days next week will be devoted to hands-on equipment training at the fire training facility, said Todd Foster, a Charleston firefighter.

The training will focus on ropes, knots and haul systems, which are used in most rescues, Foster said.

"Most of what we do in all of these rescues has something to do with ropes, whether it has something to do with getting down to the patient or pulling ourselves up to the patient," he said.

A person can pull four times his or her own weight using a rope system, Foster said.

This is not the first time local firefighters are training on this rescue equipment.

The training is ongoing, and in the past two years, firefighters have participated in a total of 10 weeks of training at an academy designed to use the equipment for rescues, Goodwin said.

Twenty out of the 30 firefighters who participate in the team attended the training sessions, Goodwin said.

"It is an intense 10 weeks of class," he said.

The 10 weeks were not consecutive, but divided into different sections, Goodwin said.

"These situations are few and far between," Foster said. "You might do this type of rescue once in your career, but the more practice with the equipment we have, the more we can familiarize ourselves with the equipment."