Crews take part in urban explorer rescue exercise

Earlier this month, some of our crews took part in a scenario-based training exercise at a Chatterley Whitfield Colliery in Stoke-on-Trent.

Firefighters from Sandyford, Hanley, Burslem and Biddulph, as well as the aerial ladder platform (ALP) from Longton, took part in an exercise in conjunction with Chatterley Whitfield heritage trust.

The purpose of the exercise was to highlight a problem with urban explorers accessing the site and climbing the structures.

The scenario was to locate a casualty within the site who had fallen from height and sustained serious injuries. The exercise also utilised the service's drone and showed its capabilities for use in searching large areas.

Station Manager Rob Horton said: “This was a great training exercise for our crews to get involved in some scenario-based training and learn about how we’d handle these situations.

“Urban explorers put themselves in danger of suffering serious and potentially fatal injuries when they enter derelict sites. They are often filled with insecure flooring, dangerous obstacles and crumbling structures that can easily result in critical injury. Not to mention, these sites also pose significant challenges to emergency responders due to their limited accessibility and unsafe structures.  

“These types of exercises are a really good opportunity for our crews to continue to develop their skills and knowledge of different incidents and scenarios that we may encounter.

“We’re always keen to keep our skills as up-to-date as possible and really value training opportunities like this so I want to thank Chatterley Whitfield heritage trust for supporting us with this training.”