By Gabriella Payne
Firefighters often find themselves in high-stress situations, working hard to save properties and lives in dangerous situations – and to prepare for this, it’s always good to practice.
The Upper Beaconsfield Fire Brigade decided to do just that last Wednesday 7 July on a mass scale, bringing together the Cockatoo Rural Fire Brigade, the Pakenham Brigade, Pakenham Upper CFA, Officer Fire Brigade, Toomuc Fire Brigade and the Beaconsfield Brigade in an expansive training exercise that aimed to hone their skills in an emergency situation.
Ian Pinney, the captain of the Upper Beaconsfield Fire Brigade who organised the whole event, said that it had been a very successful evening and a great way to bring a range of fire brigades in the Cardinia area together to work with one another.
“I thought it was a good exercise and a great opportunity to work in a collaborative approach with the other brigades,” Mr Pinney said.
“I prepared the whole night as a live incident, so not many people knew what was going on apart from a close few.”
Mr Pinney said that firefighters on the night were sent a message about the ‘fire’, which they then had to react to, organising and delegating tasks between one another to perform at their best and successfully save the ‘people’ (dummies) inside the smoke-filled Igloo building in the Upper Beaconsfield Recreation Reserve.
The thick smoke in the Igloo building simulated a structure fire environment that allowed the firefighters to perform search and rescue functions with specialist breathing apparatus to help locate the missing casualties (dummies), that were then triaged by members with first aid training outside.
Mr Pinney said that over 65 firefighters from seven different brigades were present on the night, and the Cardinia firefighters were also joined by four members of the Edithvale Fire Brigade, who brought along and showcased their newly refurbished Mobile Communications Vehicle (MCV) – one of only two if its kind in Victoria.
The bi-annual training event went down without a hitch, and Mr Pinney said that it had been a fantastic learning opportunity for everyone involved, with even some new recruits getting involved.
“The message is that it’s important that we do these things because it provides us with invaluable training opportunities,” Mr Pinney said.
“They prepare us for large scale events when they do occur and they allow us to do it without the level of intensity that you would find in a real environment.”
