The City of Cape Town’s vehicle extrication team within the fire and rescue service, the Cape Town Destroyers, jetted off to Spain on Wednesday 11 October where they competed with other international teams in the World Rescue Challenge, which took place from 16 to 21 October.
The City of Cape Town’s vehicle extrication team within the fire and rescue service, the Cape Town Destroyers, jetted off to Spain on Wednesday 11 October where they competed with other international teams in the World Rescue Challenge, which took place from 16 to 21 October.
However, the team did not win any of the first three prizes in the three different categories, “but we remain extremely proud of their participation,” says JP Smith, the Mayco member for safety and security.
According to Smith, simply competing on a world stage is an achievement.
Smith stated that the categories the team participated in were Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 – all these scenarios were 25 minutes long.
He added that this was the first time the World Rescue Challenge had a change in scenarios.
“The team did well even though the scenarios were challenging. Altogether 36 countries participated in the World Rescue Challenge and the team placed 28th overall,” says Smith.
The challenge was a world-class rescue challenge with all the best rescuers across the globe participating in the event.
“Our team acquired many learning techniques from this challenge and the new changes in scenarios. These skills will be transferred to our staff in our fire service through training and workshops. Also, the use of new equipment and utilising this equipment to assist in more effective extrication of patients from vehicles,” says Smith.
He added that patient care from the medics was also a highlight of the challenge, and this was another learning experience for them.
“The networking with other fire services across the world is always good as we can learn and see how they manage and operate their rescues.”
