The Chattanooga Fire Department hosted a multi-agency trench rescue course at McDonald Farm in Sale Creek this week. The class learned shoring techniques in an open trench and how to extract victims from a trench collapse. Members of the CFD, CPD, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Cleveland Fire and the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security are participating in the training. On Friday, the group conducted a final cumulative drill simulating a victim engulfed by a trench collapse. This group of highly skilled and dedicated first responders has been learning about all of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) disciplines during in-depth, hands-on classes. This past September, they completed rope rescue training which was held at several different locations like the Chickamauga Dam, Greenway Farms and Raccoon Mountain. Firefighters and law enforcement officers completed a week-and-a-half Rope Rescue Technician course. Starting with basic ropes and equipment, they were trained in setting up different types of systems to aid in low, steep, and high angle rescues. They completed their written and practical testing, and put it all together for a rescue scenario at Laurel Point on Raccoon Mountain on the final day of the course. Then in October, the group completed an 80-hour Structural Collapse Specialist Class. The students learned rescue techniques, such as building shoring and concrete breaching and breaking as tools to respond to structural collapse. Drills were held at several locations including the Training Center, the Volunteer Army Ammunitions Plant and the old Sky Zoo property. After the first of the year, the class will take part in confined space rescue training. This is all part of a regional USAR team development that has been ongoing for years in an effort to stay current with best practices and provide efficient and effective responses to major incidents. Training for the task force has been happening since its inception in 2006.
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