Training exercise helps team prepare for variety of rescues

They say you can’t prepare for everything, but Buzzi Unicem and members of the region’s Homeland Security Response Team are trying just the same.

Response team members gathered at Buzzi Unicem’s barge loading facilities in south Cape Girardeau on Thursday morning to practice rescue techniques they might use if an employee fell into the Mississippi River or found themselves trapped inside a cement barge.

“We’re simulating two things,” explained Brad Dillow, battalion chief with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and one of the response team leaders. “The scenario is a barge worker leaned over an opening and accidentally fell inside the barge. That person has now become unconscious because we’re dealing with a low oxygen atmosphere pressure, so that’s making our guys do some things differently.”

That “barge worker” was actually a 175-pound mannequin meant to simulate an accident victim.

“We also had a ‘person’ fall into the water and our marine unit picked him up,” Dillow said.

Members of the Homeland Security Response Team hoist a "victim" from a barge during rescue training exercise Thursday at Buzzi Unicem's barge loading facility in south Cape Girardeau.Jay Wolz

Thursday’s simulated rescue was one of a series of training sessions for members of the response team, which consists of specially trained staff from the Cape Girardeau Fire Department, Jackson Fire/Rescue, Sikeston (Missouri) Department of Public Safety and the Stoddard County (Missouri) Ambulance Service.

“We train once a month throughout the year and focus on different types of rescue — high angle rescue, low angle, confined space, hazmat, water rescue, outdoor search and rescue — we change it up constantly,” Dillow said.

“Every training is a little bit different, just like our responses,” he said. “There’s never a response that’s the same.”

Not only was Thursday’s rescue exercise beneficial for members of the Homeland Security Response Team, but it was also a learning experience for Buzzi Unicem employees.

“We’ve learned a few things that we’ll address to make things go a little bit better,” said Matt Buchheit, Buzzi Unicem’s compliance officer, who said the company has hosted previous training sessions for the response team.

Members of the regional Homeland Security Response Team descend a spiral stairway leading to a barge during a rescue training exercise Thursday at Buzzi Unicem's barge loading facility in south Cape Girardeau.Jay Wolz

“We’ve had some minor injuries that have happened since we’ve been doing these trainings, and because of the trainings we’ve been more prepared,” he said.

Capt. Ryan Davie, a 13-year veteran of the Jackson fire department, has been a member of the response team for seven or eight years and was one of the team members responsible for entering the 12-foot deep barge and rescuing the “injured worker.”

“It was my first time in a barge,” he said, and described the environment as “dark, dusty, nasty, dirty — pretty much all of it. There was a lot of white powder from the cement that’s down in there that made air quality very poor. It was like being in a cave.”

But despite the difficult conditions, Davie and other members of the response team said the training is worth it in the long run.

“It gives us a hands-on experience, so if something does happen, we’ve already practiced and we’re ready,” he said.

Cape Girardeau Fire Department Capt. Bryan Stroer, left, and department firefighter Zach Schneider prepare for a rescue training exercise Thursday at Buzzi Unicem's barge loading facility in south Cape Girardeau.Jay Wolz

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