Firefighters learn self-rescue

Published:  Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (4 months, 1 week ago)
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BY STACY TAFF
The Delphos Herald
staff@delphosherald.com

DELPHOS — There are many reasons why the local fire department should make one feel safe if an emergency were to occur. Apart from their willingness to charge into a burning building to save someone, the constant updates in training they receive ensure they will be prepared for virtually any situation from crawling through walls to pulling someone up through a hole in the floor.
Saturday at the Troyer building at Pierce and First streets, firefighters from all over Van Wert County participated in a day of training that began with a classroom session.
“All firefighters are required to have a certain amount of training every year,” said Delphos Fire Chief Dave McNeal. “We’ve used this building for training and we offered it to the Van Wert County Fire Association to use for today. They’re eventually going to tear it down but we’re not sure exactly when.”
One of the training exercises, a “window bailout,” consists of rappelling out a second-floor window in full gear holding onto a rope that looks more like an extension cord.
“This is a self-rescue, an emergency exit. It’s our first time doing this during training,” said McNeal.
After coming down from the window, Wren Fire Department’s Kyle Gehres explained how they keep the rope secured.
“Right now it’s tied to a radiator but you normally don’t have that advantage,” he said. “If there’s nothing like that to tie it to, we use an axe or some other tool we have with us.”
In the event that the floor should collapse, firefighters need to know how to rescue civilians and their fellow firefighters if they fall through. For this particular “bailout” exercise, a 175-pound dummy is used. If the person who has fallen through the floor is unconscious and unable to tie the rope themselves, a firefighter  must be lowered into the hole to tie the rope in a “handcuff knot” around the person’s forearms so they can be hauled up through the hole. For this maneuver, 4-5 people is best but if needed, it is possible for two people to make the rescue.
Dealing with fire is undoubtedly one of the most unpredictable professions imaginable and as a result, the firemen must be prepared to do anything in order to get where they need to be, even if it means crawling through walls. The training on Saturday covered this area with an exercise that forces the fully-outfitted firemen to “swim” through a series of ropes in a narrow tunnel before reaching the end, where it’s necessary to hack through drywall with an axe.
“If you reach a point where you feel restrained, you have to back up and try again. The trick is to sort of ‘swim’ through the ropes, pushing them up so you can get through,” said Andy Berelsman of Delphos Fire Department. “When you get to the drywall, you have to break through it between the studs or you won’t be able to get through.”

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