REDLANDS has its own team entered into a rescue challenge competition in Victoria later this month.
The five firefighters and one paramedic, all Redlands residents, will be assessed on their skills and techniques in managing realistic road rescue scenarios.
The experience provides them with valuable training to deal with the 5126 traffic crashes that have occurred on Brisbane’s roads between July 2015 and May this year.
Led by the station officer from Capalaba fire station Paul Omanski, other team members are senior firefighter Elliot Burton from Wishart fire station, Capalaba firefighter Richard McCluskey, Redland Bay firefighter Marc Trow, Annerley firefighter Katie Doyle-Smith and paramedic Kaylee Woodbine from Balmoral ambulance station.
The Redlands team will be joined by another two Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) teams, one each from Brisbane and Cairns and 21 other teams from Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Mr Burton said teams would be given 30 minutes for challenges during which they aim to get a casualty out of a vehicle safely.
Scenarios include entrapments, a situation that involves a mannequin trapped together with a person who plays a role as an injured victim and a scenario that requires a victim to be rapidly removed from a crash.
The Redlands team has fundraised through sponsorships and efforts such as sausage sizzles to raise the funds to attend the event.
QFES provided funding for the other two teams to attend.
Mr Burton said the competition required a lot of hard work and training during their personal time, but it provided them with skills that were valuable in their work.
“We do it to be really professional on the road,” he said.
Last year the Redlands team came third in trauma challenge event and first in 2014.
The team members also attend learning symposiums during the four-day event.
Mr Omanski said they had been training weekly and valued the experience as an opportunity to keep up to date with world trends.