SWFRS World and UK Extrication Champions
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has been hailed as World and UK extrication champions.
The world beating team of six took on the UK Fire and Rescue Services to retain the national title for the second year in a row.
Just one week after being named as World Champions in Romania, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s team of six from Bridgend have also retained their national champion title after competing at the United Kingdom National Rescue Challenge in Hull. This double success in consecutive years has never been achieved by any team before.
The Challenge, which was held at the KCOM Stadium in this year’s City of Culture, saw three extrication teams from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS), as well as a trauma team, take on the very best 30 rescue teams from across the UK.
Following their World Rescue Champion title, the Bridgend Extrication team was again awarded the Best UK Vehicle Rescue Team, with individual team awards going to:
- Station Manager Andrew Morgan, who was placed second in the Best Officer in Charge category,
- Watch Manager Allyn Hosey, Watch Manager Mark Isles and Firefighter Matthew Leman were placed second in the UK Technical Team category,
- The Best Medics title again went to Watch Manager Roger Magan and Crew Manager Les Evans, who have the honour of being recognised as the best medics in both the World and the United Kingdom Challenges this year.
The Trauma team were presented with technical medical scenarios over the two day period, with the Rescue teams being tested with rescuing trapped casualties from a multitude of new vehicles which had kindly been provided by Ford UK. All teams competed to an extremely professional level and were all positioned highly in the overall standings.
Group Manager Shaun Moody, Team Manager on behalf of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said, “This was a fantastic achievement for all SWFRS Rescue Teams taking part in the competition, with particular praise to the Bridgend team who have made history this weekend in their back-to-back UK and World Champion titles. This is even more impressive as this year's Bridgend team also has two new members.
“The knowledge acquired by the teams will now be passed on to all of our operational crews to improve patient survival at Road Traffic Collisions, as well as trauma incidents we attend and I would also like to remind all drivers to drive safely and at the correct road speeds. We may be World and UK champions at extrication, but we would prefer not to have to cut someone out of their vehicle due to being distracted or driving at speed.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer, Huw Jakeway, added, “It has been another successful week for the South Wales teams, with each team competing to an extremely high standard. To have three teams representing the Service against 30 of the best from across the UK is a fantastic achievement, and to see our Bridgend team honoured with not only World Champion status in Romania last week, but also the UK Champion title, is a very proud moment for SWFRS. Massive congratulations to them for their their dedication, and professional commitment, which is there for everyone to see.”
In addition to the success of all the UK Fire and Rescue Services’ teams competing, attending SWFRS’ Assistant Chief Fire Office Andrew Thomas, informed the 700 strong audience that the 2018 United Kingdom Rescue Challenge had been awarded to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and will be held at a venue in Cardiff in September 2018. This will be the second time the service has been awarded the honour of hosting this prestigious event.