Irish teams return from World Rescue Competitions
Three Irish teams have attended the World Rescue Organisation competitions in Cape Town, South Africa this week.
The teams, from counties Carlow and Meath comprise of firefighters from Meath Fire & Rescue Service to volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians from the Order of Malta in Carlow and Meath Civil Defence.
The World Rescue Organisation (WRO) competitions were held between 20th and 27th October and included almost 50 teams from Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Romania, South Africa and America.
Meath Fire & Rescue Service had a team six firefighters from Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Navan and Oldcastle fire stations. The Meath Fire Team were Paul Colleran, (IC), Ciaran Finn, Alan Egan, Liam Caffrey, Alan Campbell and Dave Treanor. Their team participated in three challenges in the Extrication category; Complex, Rapid and Standard extrication.
(Meath Fire & Rescue Extrication team. Photo: WRO2018)
Carlow Order of Malta Ambulance Corps had three members on their team. This is Carlow’s 1st time to enter the WRO competitions and they made their debut entry in April last at the Rescue Ireland Organisation challenges. The Carlow OMAC team are Team Captain John Lally, OIC Terry Kerschbaum and Unit Officer Ben Miller. Their team were challenged in two scenarios in the Trauma challenge, in the Standard and the Complex categories.
(Carlow Order of Malta Trauma team. Photo: WRO2018)
County Meath had a second team participating in the WRO with two volunteers from Meath Civil Defence. Ronan and Dylan Smith have over 15 years-experience in the Civil Defence and after competing in four Rescue Ireland challenges, this is the pair’s first time to enter the World Rescue Organisation competitions. This team were also challenged in the Trauma section in both the Standard and the Complex scenarios on day 2 and day 4 respectfully.
(Meath Civil Defence Trauma team. Photo: WRO2018)
These challenges and competitions are huge experiences for any fulltime, reserve or voluntary rescue professional and the aim of the World Rescue Organisation is to provide a platform for rescue personnel throughout the world to share and advance science and technology and to develop and enhance proficiency in general rescue techniques, vehicle rescue, incident command and pre-hospital emergency care.
(ROI Challenges in Meath. Photo: Declan Keogh / Emergency Times)
The WRO was created to assist with the dissemination of emergency rescue and medical techniques, practices and procedures to aid the effective management of Road Traffic Collisions and the care of those involved. The application of such knowledge can save lives and dramatically improve long term outcomes.
The WRO draws on the experience of its member organisations and its partners to develop national bodies, the rescue challenge concept and produce training programmes and initiatives that assist rescue and medical crews whilst working in the post-crash environment.
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