Firefighters practice rappelling techniques

Rescue instruction was part of $130,000 Homeland Security grant.

Friday in 95-degree heat, Cape Girardeau firefighters practiced rappelling from the Southeast Missouri Hospital parking garage, carefully lowering patients on backboards to a crew below.

The training was all part of a course titled "Introduction to Technical Rescue." The course was taught in two parts, the first part earlier this week during an eight-hour review of hazard risk assessment and safety. Friday's eight hours were spent practicing basic rope rescue techniques.

These techniques will help the firefighters should they ever have to respond to industrial areas on Nash Road that have high and confined spaces or should they have to respond to small spaces like those at Southeast Missouri State University.

William Jones, Perryville's assistant fire chief, said that if they ever need to do a rescue from a steep embankment such as one off a highway or a cliff, this training will be useful.

The training was made possible through a $129,224 grant from the Department of Homeland Security. Fire departments in all 50 states competed for the grant.

To qualify for the grant, the city had to explain how it would benefit the city and the region, said Mark Hasheider, Cape Girardeau's assistant fire chief.

Despite being one of the largest fire departments in the region, he said, Cape Girardeau had a void in the area of technical rescue.

All 52 members of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department participated in the training and members of the Perryville Fire Department also participated.

The training re-emphasized teamwork among the firefighters, Hasheider said. "That same teamwork carries over to our fire scene and vice versa."

The training also teaches firefighters how to come up with another plan if the first plan doesn't work, Hasheider said.

During the training, firefighters learned newer rope techniques.

One advantage of the setup, he said, is that everyone is getting the same training.

"So rather than two or three people having different ideas and thoughts, it is coming from one set of instructors, everybody is doing the same thing," Hasheider said.

Jones said the training was extremely successful because of the quality and content of the instruction.

He said the instructors were willing to work with the students to make sure everything was done right.

"The more you train the better you perform on the scene," Jones said.

The overview and review of what they have learned in past classes and putting that knowledge to practical use were the most beneficial part of the training, Jones said.

Friday's training will be followed by three days of ropes training and a five-day class in handling a building collapse in the next couple of months.

ameyer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127