Training paid off at highway crash scene
By Dan Singleton
Round Up staff
With photo
Pull quote: “I told them to do one thing and they already knew the next three steps. They were right on it.” - Marty Butts, Sundre fire chief.
Taking part in vehicle extrication competitions over the past number of years really paid off for firefighters at a recent two-vehicle crash scene east of town, says Sundre fire chief Marty Butts.
Firefighters, along with EMS personnel, police and STARS air ambulance crew, were called to the crash on Highway 27 early on the morning of Feb. 24.
At the scene, the driver of one of the vehicles was trapped very tightly inside the vehicle, requiring a complicated rescue operation involving numerous firefighters.
“It was a tough call and we had a lot of challenges,” said Butts. “It was a tough nine out of ten scene in terms of severity. This wasn't a case where we could just pop the door off and get the guy out.
“We do a lot of competitions and training and that experience really came out at the call. Those competitions let us train to do exactly what we had to deal with at that scene. Everybody worked very well.
“We had guys on scene who have taken part in these competitions and they can almost read my mind about what I needed to be done. I told them to do one thing and they already knew the next three steps. They were right on it.”
Sundre firefighters are regular participants in vehicle extrication competitions across the province and elsewhere.
Department members have won numerous awards for excellence in the complicated rescue techniques involved in getting people safely out of wrecked vehicles.
Five people were injured, including two seriously, in the crash, which remains under investigation, said Sundre RCMP Sgt. Percy Leipnitz.
