Firefighters train in confined spaces

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Airmen from the 100th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department conducted confined-space-rescue training July 2, 2013, on the roof of building 809 on RAF Mildenhall, England. The training is an annual requirement, but in order to ensure they are fully qualified and always ready for any situation, the firefighters conduct the training two or three times per year.

"We have two simulators in our training area, but try to get out and utilize actual confined spaces that are listed around the base, to familiarize our personnel with the different scenarios they could be called to," said Master Sgt. Matthew Luetkemeyer, 100th CES Fire Department assistant chief of training from Warrenton, Mo.

Confined spaces around base include sewage and storm drain pipes; trenches (dug out at construction sites); petroleum, oils and lubricants tanks and water tanks. The fire department also conducts an annual exercise with the 100th Maintenance Group for entry into an aircraft fuel cell.

The vital training allows the firefighters to practice both horizontal and vertical entries into buildings and confined spaces, which enables them to save lives in many situations.

"The type or location of a confined space, and the type of emergency in that space, will determine what equipment may be used to rescue a trapped victim," Luetkemeyer said. "In the case of the exercise conducted on the roof of building 809, we had a simulated victim who was trapped under a steel grate while working on air-handling ductwork. This victim had to be moved horizontally in the space he was in, then vertically out of the space.

"Once removed, he needed to be moved horizontally to the ladder that led to the roof, then lowered by ropes, vertically, to a level where he could be taken from the facility," the assistant chief of training added."The challenge for our rescue personnel was to properly select equipment, such as medical, ropes and spinal immobilization, that would be needed to make this happen and then execute the plan that they came up with."

Luetkemeyer explained that the firefighters carefully removed the victim, in each of the four exercises, from the confined space and then used the ladder to lower the victim. They rigged the system for lowering the victim differently from operation to operation, but fundamentally remained the same. They selected anchor points on the roof and with the use of static kern-mantle life safety rope (which differs from what recreational rock climbers would use and has a maximum load capacity of 9,000 lbs), the firefighters lowered the victim to the ground.

"This training was given additional emphasis in the early 1990s, after a few serious and fatal accidents at different Department of Defense facilities," he said. "Additional schools and certifications were created, and local training on base-specific confined spaces increased as every base has its own specific hazards.

"Although confined space emergencies constitute an extremely low percentage of our (emergency) responses, all fire emergency services personnel need to remain proficient in these procedures, in the event that a rescue needs to be performed," Luetkemeyer said.