| On Thursday, May 26, the members of the Longwood Fire Company invited our brothers and sisters from the Concordville Fire Protection Association (Delaware County Station 59) to participate in a joint vehicle rescue training at our firehouse. Senior Rescueman Brian McCarthy and Lieutenant Mike Syska worked with Captain John Poole of Concordville to arrange a night where both companies could get together and participate in an intense vehicle accident recreation. Longwood and Concordville have a long history of running mutual aid calls together and have developed an excellent friendship in the process.
The night started out with members from each company getting a guided tour of the other's Rescue truck. Captain Poole explained the tools and layouts that are on Concordville's Rescue Engine (Engine 59-4) while Lieutenant Mert LaBare opened up Longwood's Rescue Squad and Rescue Engine for the Concordville crews to view. Once the crews were familiar with where things were on the apparatus, the scenario began.
Lieutenant Syska played the role of the Chester County Emergency Services Dispatcher and "dispatched" Station 25 to the area of Greenwood Road and Route 1 for an auto accident with entrapment. Up until this point, the scenario had been blocked from view so that none of the participating members would get a sneak peek of what was to come. Chief 25 (McCarthy) responded and advised of a three vehicle accident with one under ride, one on its side and three trapped patients. Concordville and the balance of Longwood responded and entered the scene as if this were a real accident.
Both crews worked very well together and spent the next 45 minutes stabilizing all vehicles and performing different extrication methods based on the accident scenario. Crews removed the doors and roofs of a Chevy Camaro and GMC Jimmy SUV to access and extricate two simulated patients. Another crew performed a roof flap of a Chevy Tahoe on its side to access another simulated patient. Once all three patients were extricated and sent on to various simulated hospitals, the members took a break to relax, rehydrate and talk about the scenario.
Both companies took a minute to talk about different extrication possibilities and were given an opportunity to ask questions, make comments or discuss the scenario as a whole. After about 30 minutes of discussion, everyone pitched in to clean up the scenario and equipment.
The Longwood Fire Company would like to thank Concordville for coming out to train with us. It was an excellent opportunity for everyone to learn and have some fun and we look forward to continued mutual aid training in the future. We would also like to thank Robert's Towing Service on Route 1 in Pennsbury Township for providing us with the junked cars that we used for the drill. Your continued support of the fire company keeps us on top of our game and we appreciate it. |
