CEDAR CITY — Cedar City firefighters took part in advanced training Thursday night to learn new methods for extracting injured people from wrecked vehicles.
Fire Chief Mike Phillips told Cedar City News firefighters receive regular weekly training courses, and Thursday’s advanced extrication course was part of their technical rescue training.
“We do trainings every Tuesday night,” Phillips said. “Every third Thursday is our TRT training, so we come out and we do some specialized technical rescue training.”
The training involved a scenario in which one vehicle was on top of another vehicle that was upside down. Firefighters were able to work through several methods for getting someone out of those vehicles.
“Instead of being a car that’s on its wheels and we just pop the doors, this is a lot more complex to dig into it,” Phillips said.
Phillips said the first step in extrication for this scenario was to stabilize both vehicles using a variety of methods.
“They’ve locked the two cars together, they’ve got some struts and they’ve got cribbing underneath it,” Phillips said. “Then they disconnect the batteries so the airbags don’t go off, then they go in and do the extrication.”
Phillips said the training and all the tools are offered by the Utah Fire Rescue Academy.
“Utah Fire Rescue Academy brings us the tools and equipment, so as a city we don’t have to take our equipment off of our trucks to do the class,” he said.
Phillips said although trainings like these are fast-paced and mimic actual incidents. They also allow firefighters to work through scenarios and problem solve without the added pressures of a real car wreck.
The Utah Fire Rescue Academy is part of Utah Valley University and focuses on providing training and fire-related higher education to firefighters across the state.
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Several firefighters are attempting to work through different ways an injured person could be extracted from these vehicles during a training, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Cedar City firefighters received advanced extrication training from the Utah Fire Rescue Academy, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Cedar City firefighters received advanced extrication training from the Utah Fire Rescue Academy, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Firefighters are able to train with cars donated from community members, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Cedar City firefighters received advanced extrication training from the Utah Fire Rescue Academy, this training scenario involved one car on top of another that was upside down, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Cedar City firefighters received advanced extrication training from the Utah Fire Rescue Academy, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Firefighters are working to get through the trunk of the vehicle that is upside down for extrication training, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
Firefighters used several methods for stabilizing vehicles in this training scenario, Cedar City Utah, Aug. 13, 2020 | Photo by Kelsey Cooke, St George News / Cedar City News
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Kelsey was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and then attended Southern Utah University in Cedar City. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and an associate degree in equine studies. Kelsey served as a copy editor for the SUU Journal for one year and as the senior reporter for the Iron County Today before joining Cedar City News. She enjoys helping out with her family’s ranch in Hatch, petting every dog within reach and all things zebra-striped. When she’s not writing articles, Kelsey can be found spending time with her family or curled up with a good book and her Norwich terrier mix, Scout.