Emergency and rescue services ensure public safety and health by addressing different situations. Fire and rescue services are primary emergency services that carry out fire suppression and technical rescue missions. Technical rescue involves the use of specialized tools and skills for rescue. Often, it requires special technical rescue teams. Technical rescue services include confined space rescue, vehicle extrication, rope rescue, trench rescue, water rescue as well as wilderness search and rescue.
What are the two main types of technical rescue services in California?
Confined Space Rescue
Confined space rescue is a technical rescue situation that deals with rescuing victims trapped in confined spaces such as storage tanks, sewers, man-holes, caves, and so on. Confined spaces are often narrow and constricting. They can sometimes prevent easy access by rescuers. A confined space may sometimes contain hazardous materials such as gas or fire.
Confined space rescue may involve situations that are not immediately life threatening but could become so over time, such as being stuck in a cave. Technical rescue teams may extract lost or injured cave explorers from various cave environments. Sometimes, the rescue might not require the rescuers to go in and remove the trapped person if the trapped individual can be briefed on how to exit safely on their own.
Some confined space rescues require life-threatening strategies such as using a rope or climbing to high places. For example, a person trapped in a man-hole can be extracted with a rope, or teams may need to climb trees or cliffs to access a stuck person. Confined spaces are often dark and may require rescue teams to provide a light source.
Technical Confined Space Rescue
Technical confined space rescue may include structural collapse rescue after a person gets stuck under a collapsed building at a construction site. This is usually life-threatening and will need the intervention of technical rescue teams. Technical confined space rescue also involves car rescues where a person may be trapped in a car after an accident. Attempting to rescue someone from a crushed vehicle without the aid of a technical rescue professional could lead to further injuries. In most cases, it may involve children or elderly persons that have been trapped by accident or professionals that become trapped while working on a job.
Trench rescue is a specialized form of rescue that involves digging out a trapped victim from a collapsed ditch. This is one of the most dangerous rescue operations and needs to be done by a professional. Calling a technical rescue service like Capstone Fire is the best thing to do if anyone gets trapped at a job or construction site.
