Fire crews carry out training drill at Salisbury Cathedral
Firefighters were tasked with performing a rescue at height
Last updated 18 hours ago
Fire crews in Wiltshire say they're pleased with how a training exercise at Salisbury Cathedral has gone today (28/4).
The exercise saw teams perform a rescue at height as they responded to a scenario where a person had suffered a medical emergency inside the Cathedral.
With the use of an aerial ladder platform, crews braved the windy conditions to reach a window on the west wing of the building over 30 metres above the ground.
They rescued a dummy patient and safely returned it to the ground.
Crews worked alongside teams from the Hampshire & Isle of Wight service and South Ambulance service due to their close geographical borders.
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Group Manager, Shaun Milton, told us the exercises keep crews sharp for responding to emergencies.
"There's lots of factors that come into play with this," he said. "Part of it is multi-agency working, which is really important. So we get to know each other and collaborate before a real incident takes place. But we can use this in a domestic setting.
"We frequently support the ambulance service with extricating from domestic properties, albeit on a smaller scale, but the skills we use here are just as applicable."
He told us that while the ladder platform might look risky, it's one of the safest pieces of equipment rescue services use.
"We have a big hierarchy of control measures and using our aero ladder platform is probably one of the safest ways that we have of working at height. So it's a really good way. It's not a cheap piece of equipment, but it really does a good job really well. And we use it for not only for rope access like we have here, but also for firefighting," Shaun said.
The event was organised by Sam Edwards, a firefighter in Salisbury. He said the Cathedral provides a unique challenge that can be highly beneficial in training.
"It's really important for us as a fire service that we train for every eventuality. Obviously here at Salisbury, one of our largest risks is the historic building behind us at Salisbury Cathedral. It's very complex, been built over hundreds of years. So it's important that we know all the procedures inside and that our crews get hands on with all of the extrication and any sort of rope rescue we need to do from above," he said.