The scene: An 8-foot deep, T-shaped construction trench near Lorton, Va. A worker is below grade in a trench box near where the excavation forms the “T.” A spoil pile, built too close to the lip of the trench, collapses inward and the worker is trapped. A life-or-death clock begins ticking.

Is the incident real? This time, no, but next time it could be. Technical-rescue teams from all across Virginia took part in Rescue Challenge 2006 in May to be one step ahead in preparation.

Rescue Challenge is the creation of Bttn. Chief Steve Wood of the Henrico (Va.) Fire Division. Over a decade ago, Wood felt there was a need for an operation that would advance the abilities of technical-rescue teams and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and building of working relationships among jurisdictions through combined training incidents. Wood shared his vision for Rescue Challenge with Mark Light, at the time the chief of Henrico Fire Division. Light wholeheartedly endorsed Wood's idea and said that others such as Bttn. Chief Charlie King had also expressed desires to advance rescuers' capabilities.

With the idea approved in concept, a plan of action was needed. What exactly would Rescue Challenge be? Who would take part? Where, when and how would the operation be staged?

Wood organized a plan that focused the concept. “The main audience,” Wood explains, “would include teams who had already completed rescue training programs provided by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. The Challenge would be an ongoing event each year giving teams the chance to take part in advanced rescue missions, which would then enhance their skills, build confidence, [and] open doors for information and concerns to be shared.”

The first Rescue Challenge became a reality in May 1994. Chesterfield and Hanover Counties along with the Virginia Department of Fire Programs teamed up with Henrico to launch the event in central Virginia.

A dozen years later, Rescue Challenge has grown to a training exercise among 10 teams. The 2006 edition included two teams from central Virginia made up of personnel from Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and Richmond; the Roanoke Valley Regional Technical Rescue Team with personnel from Roanoke City, Roanoke County and Salem City; the Tidewater Regional Technical Rescue Team and FEMA VATF-2, composed of personnel from Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth; the U.S. Army MDW Engineers, Fort Belvoir (USA TF-1), made up of U.S. Army Urban Search and Rescue Team and Military District Washington; the Fairfax Technical Rescue Operations Team and VA TF-1; the Westvaco Volunteer Squad, Covington (Va.) Alexandria/Arlington Regional Technical Rescue Team; the Montgomery Maryland MD TF-1; and the Crater Regional Technical Rescue Team made up of personnel from Colonial Heights, Fort Lee, Hopewell, Petersburg and Prince George County.

Host agencies for Rescue Challenge 2006 were Alexandria City Fire Department, Arlington County Fire Department, Fairfax County Fire Department, Fort Belvoir and the U.S. Army MDW Engineers USAR team. Exercises took place in several locales and scenarios, including a trench collapse, a downed helicopter with two individuals trapped, heavy-vehicle extrication, structural collapse, confined-space rescue and high-angle rescue.

Lorton site exercises

The construction trench exercise was spared no amount of planning and preparation effort by participants, with the top priority being safety. Their first consideration was the “unsafe” portion of the trench. The next hazard was the unrestrained spoil pile that caused the worker to become “trapped.” Even the possibility of atmospheric hazards was factored into the attacks.

Possible complications in an actual trench collapse or cave-in, besides the obvious possible injuries, include “crush syndrome,” which occurs when a part of the body is trapped and circulation restricted or completely cut off for an extended period of time, resulting in the blood in those extremities or limbs filling with toxins. Cardiac arrest is a possibility when the parts or limbs are freed and the toxins travel through the blood stream. Exercise participants factored in this and other potential complications.

But what if something were to go wrong for real during a Rescue Challenge exercise? For the Lorton operation, the site emergency plan included an initial backup team consisting of two trench site facilitators and one safety officer, plus the facilitators of a nearby vehicle-rescue exercise site and the team operating at the vehicle-rescue site. Additional resources were provided by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Cave-in Unit.

The rescue equipment needed for the trench-rescue exercise was provided by the Alexandria Fire Department. The Department of Fire Programs provided a trench-rescue trailer, and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department offered additional trench-rescue equipment as needed.

Teams evaluated their performance relative to:

• Proper scene size-up, including soil analysis and a risk/benefit analysis.
• Atmospheric monitoring and ventilation.
• Hazard control (utilities, dewatering).
• Shoring and stabilization of the trench using equipment carried by the participating teams' department.
• Proper stabilization the trench's unstabilized area using conventional shoring techniques.
• Victim packaging.
• Proper removal of victim if viable or body if a recovery.
• Communications with private contractors as deemed necessary for victim information, access and removal.

Vulcan Yard site exercises

At the Alexandria Vulcan Yard site, heavy breaching and breaking exercises were conducted. A series of obstacles was set up to simulate a rescue operation with conditions that teams might encounter following a building collapse. Two sets of concrete double-TS and a lift station provided plenty of challenges for the participants. The double-TS were placed together to form two separate tunnels, with the lift station placed between them to provide additional opportunities to practice skills.

The goal was to clear a path through the double-TS large enough to extricate a simulated victim. The only limitation placed on the rescue teams was they could not breech the double-TS. A series of obstacles were strategically placed in the tunnels through holes that had been pre-cut. The obstacles included 4-inch thick concrete slabs, light debris, metal plates, metal grates and large household appliances like a refrigerator.

Participants started the evolution by entering the TS through a vertical pipe or box. They then performed a clean breach, overcoming the obstacles as they were encountered. The exercise also included a heavy lift challenge. All teams had the opportunity to encounter the lift challenge, located at the end of the first set of T-slabs. Success at the lift then advanced teams to the second set of T-slabs.

Safety gear required for the exercise included long-sleeved jump suits, safety glasses, helmets, gloves, steel-toed boots, helmet lights, hearing protection, dust masks, and knee and elbow pads. Cutting and burning operations necessitated water cans and dry-chemical extinguishers. A fire department pumper was stationed on-site for additional suppression and water.

Allowing for the possibility of an actual emergency during the exercise, rapid egress holes were pre-cut in the tables of the T-slabs prior to the start of the challenge. In addition, a rapid intervention team was on-site and prepared to extricate any injured team members in the event of an accident. To familiarize teams with the scenario, a site walk-through was conducted prior to the event.

Equipment for the scenario included: two rotary saws, four diamond blades, four chipping/drilling hammers with both bull points and flat tips, a cutting system, two gas-powered electric generators, six 50-foot electric cords, fuel for the saws, a saw maintenance kit, 10 carabiners, four pry bars, one high-pressure air bag set with air supply, six rigging shackles, assorted cribbing, assorted rigging rope, 10 wedge anchors with eye bolts, two framing hammers, two sledge hammers, one core drill, one torch, two water coolers, one tool box, two cans of orange spray paint, four shovels, assorted lengths of 2-inch webbing, assorted wedges, two rigging straps, and four 6-foot four-by-fours.

Arlington site exercises

Arlington, Va., was the site of Rescue Challenge's rope-rescue exercises. Scenarios included a high-angle rescue from a high-rise building and the rescue of a subway rail worker via a ventilation shaft.

The high-rise building exercise was staged at an actual 30-story office building complex. The scenario was set as a glazier suffering an injury while repairing a window seal about 10 floors down from the top of the building. The injured “worker” (a mannequin) was said to be wearing a Class III harness and was suspended from the building by a single H-inch rope secured to a rooftop anchor.

Objectives set for the rescue team were:

• Locate the victim and establish a safe area on the ground.
• Prepare all necessary equipment.
• Access the victim from rooftop and assess injuries.
• Secure victim to a rope-rescue system.
• Haul victim and rescuer to roof.
• Construct an angled high line from roof to ground.
• Package and lower the victim to ground via high line.

The site scenario was located in a heavily populated and congested urban area. Rescue personnel constantly had to be aware of heavy pedestrian traffic and moving vehicle traffic. With operations being performed at the edge of the roof of the structure, it was mandated that all personnel be tethered. Rescuers were required to wear steel-toed shoes, helmets, gloves, eye protection and long sleeves while at the site. All rope-rescue systems constructed at the site were thoroughly inspected and load tested prior to supporting live loads.

“Rescue Randy [the mannequin used in the exercise] was our victim,” says David Hammond, Chesterfield Fire and EMS TRT training coordinator and the leader of Central Virginia Team No. 2. “The victim was stuck on a cart 70 feet below the roof line and the cart was inoperable. First a rescuer had to go down and be brought up with the victim. Then, with the high-angle line in place on the other side of the building, the victim had to be lowered. The angled high line had to be 400 feet away from the building. It was anchored on the ground to a vehicle.”

The assumptions for the subway rescue scenario were that Arlington Metro Rail had reported a possible explosion with two workers injured in the fan shaft. One worker was able to escape with minor injuries, the other is trapped below grade at the track level. The objectives of the rescue team were to gather information from the first worker and the Metro personnel, then to recon the scene and perform an appropriate rescue. All patients were then to be packaged properly and taken to ground level to be treated. Adding to the realism of this exercise was that the scenario was staged on a live site. Arlington Metro continued its normal operations as the exercise was conducted.

For the scenario, the first worker reports that he and his partner were replacing sump pumps at track level when there was some type of explosion. All electrical power then went out. He says the stairs were destroyed at the lower levels, but he had voice contact with his partner prior to exiting. The second worker is conscious but severely injured, saying that he can't move. The first worker is then transported by EMS.

The scenario continues to unfold as a Metro representative arrives on the scene. The representative confirms that all power to the track bed has been secured and that all power to the third rail on both the inbound and outbound tracks has been shut off. He tells the rescue team that he's available to answer any questions and has a direct line of communication with the Metro Center, if needed.

Because this exercise was being conducted on a live site, lock-out and tag-out procedures were simulated and no rigging was allowed to be anchored to the fans, louvers or electrical components. Rescue teams were instructed not to approach either track bed at any time. A site facilitator and ACFD-trained personnel were at the track level at all times.

All equipment was staged at the entrance of the fan shaft. A city street off-ramp crossing required one team member to use a flag and warn traffic. The person flagging traffic was required to wear a reflective vest and use a signaling flag to be highly visible to oncoming traffic. Personnel operating below grade wore appropriate PPE, including helmet, eye protection, hearing protection, safety shoes, gloves and long-sleeved shirts. Individuals operating in areas of potential danger for smoke or gas wore appropriate respiratory protection. Personnel operating at or near shafts were tethered to secure anchors.

All team members were instructed that if an actual emergency should arise, they were to exit the fan shaft via a stairway and a personal accountability check would be performed.

Equipment supplied for the exercise included rope (lower, belay, haul), rope bags, a confined-space trailer, harnesses, an atmospheric monitor, PPE, lock-out/tag-out supplies, Stokes basket and Sked stretcher, spare SCBA cylinders, personal lights, traffic safety vests, communications equipment, and directional flags

One facilitator was responsible for the entire exercise, but relied on a second facilitator responsible for site safety at street level and the first landing and a third facilitator responsible for track safety at the lower levels. The rapid intervention team that had been deployed to the high-rise exercise site was moved to the subway site following the conclusion of the earlier exercise.

“From my perspective,” says Chesterfield (Va.) Fire Division Chief Paul Mauger, “what Rescue Challenge affords our members is a sense of confidence and accomplishment. They are presented with an opportunity to work together as a team and apply what they have learned to successfully resolve a daunting task. By working together as a department-based team, as well as a regional source, our members build relationships, camaraderie and trust between themselves, which prepares them to more effectively work together in the event of a catastrophic event.”

“Rescue Challenge is a valuable learning opportunity as teams can share experiences and techniques they have found to be successful in technical rescue incidents,” says Henrico Fire Division Chief Ron Mastin. “Working with neighboring teams helps to develop an esprit de corps that only serves to increase team efficiency when called on to perform at real-life scenarios. And all this is the best training for the money that our technical-rescue team can get. It is a tremendous asset to the program.”

After four days of digging, dragging, pounding, lifting and rigging, you might wonder which teams did best — but scores aren't part of the spirit of Rescue Challenge. Wood reiterates, “Rescue Challenge is not a competition … at least not as one might expect. Teams do not compete against each other. Instead, each team competes against itself by trying to improve with each realistic scenario.” The goal is to learn, enhance skills and build confidence. And evidenced by its growth over the past 12 years, Rescue Challenge is succeeding.

---

Becky Robinette Wright is a freelance writer.

Rescue Challenge is in its 12th year. For more information contact Steve Wood through the Henrico Fire Division at wool4@co.henrico.va.us.