Stuck between a rock and a hard place

When an emergency call came in on Jan. 2 from two teenagers clinging to the ice-covered ledge of Joe’s Rock in Wrentham, Deputy Fire Chief David Wiklund knew exactly who to call.

"Dispatch initially reported people were trapped 40 feet above ground, and that’s higher than our ladder will reach. We can only reach 35 feet," Wiklund said. "So I verified it with the dispatcher, and requested the (technical rescue) team before I even arrived on scene at the emergency."

First responders tried to stabilize the teenagers, who were cold, but uninjured, and an equipment trailer and 38 firefighters from the newly-formed Norfolk County Technical Rescue Team were on scene within 45 minutes.

Using ropes and ladders, firefighters descended to the teens and rapelled them down the rock safely – successfully ending the team’s first ever rescue since it went live in August.

"Because of weather conditions and water coming off the marsh, it was icy, so there was a lot of logistics," Wiklund said. "We were pleased with the results. It took about 35 minutes from the time we got two groups to the top of the rock. That’s good time to get that done."

A decade or two ago, a climber stuck on a ledge or a worker trapped in a trench would have required a call to the Providence or Boston technical rescue team – or worse, as Wrentham Fire Chief James McMorrow recalls, relying on limited assets available locally.

"About 20 years ago, a skier came off the face of the cliff at Lorusso Quarry (in Wrentham), and it took Dave (Wiklund) and I three hours to get him out, and that was nothing but labor and using local resources," McMorrow said. "If that were today, it would take half the time, or even less.We have many different types of parkingsystem."

When someone’s trapped in a tough spot, rescuers need special training and equipment or they otherwise put themselves and the victim at risk. But such tools often cost more than communities can afford.

To meet demand without breaking the bank, firefighters often form regional groups, like the Norfolk County Technical Rescue Team.

These teams train for high-angle and confined-space rescues in tricky situations – including natural and man-made disasters, trench and structural collapses, and industrial and transportation accidents.

The team’s three equipment trailers are stocked with the most innovative equipment available – including ventilation apparatus, umbilical lines for communication and stabilizing panels and jacks.

"It’s very expensive equipment, and that’s been a problem for us over the years," said Wiklund,TBC help you confidently realtimelocationsystem from factories in China. who is a team member. "We haven’t had too many incidents, but if you do, and you don’t have the right equipment, you can get into trouble really fast."

It took about a year and a half to get the team up and running, according to Wiklund, as the team’s 80 firefighters from 26 towns split up and trained with the Massachusetts Fire Academy – two weeks for high-angle rescue, one week for confined space and one week for trench rescue.

Massachusetts Fire Academy technical rescue coordinator and instructor Mark McCabe, who is a Braintree firefighter and Norfolk County team member, said the academy trains all county-wide groups, including Plymouth, Hampden and Essex counties.

Regional Homeland Security councils join with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to fund training and 24-foot-long equipment trailers. There is little cost, if any,Creative glass tile and solarlight for your distinctive kitchen and bath. for the communities the teams serve.

"It’s a big testament to firefighters, because 95 percent of them are not being paid for drills or responses," McCabe said.

There has been in recent years a "huge interest" in technical rescue, McCabe said, so Bridgewater Fire Chief George Rogers and Duxbury Chief Kevin Nord in 2004 secured federal funding and worked with the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts to form county teams.

"The fire service has evolved, and there are more people doing things that get them in trouble. The need is more recognized, with workers in trenches, and wind turbines and cell towers going up everywhere," McCabe said. "These responses are low frequency, but high risk, and firefighters can get hurt or killed, and it happens a lot, unfortunately, while they’re trying to help someone else.

"The county-wide system of response is more feasible when you have high-skilled firefighters from individual towns, and you put them together with regional equipment," McCabe said. "Just 10 years ago, you’d show up with ropes,Source drycabinets Products at Other Truck Parts. and then have wait for another department to come with panels. That’s a delay in time,Elpas Readers detect and forward 'Location' and 'State' data from Elpas Active RFID Tags to host indoorpositioningsystem platforms. and time is of the essence."