PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Eighteen officers and firefighters with the Portsmouth Fire Department completed a weeklong Trench Rescue Technician course, adding a specialized skill set to a department that already fields urban search and rescue and water/dive response teams.
The training covered shoring and shielding methods used to stabilize collapsed or unstable trenches, along with victim rescue techniques and critical-thinking scenarios meant to prepare crews to respond quickly and efficiently if the technical rescue method is ever needed, the department said in a Facebook post. Instructors from Crash Course, a technical rescue training provider, led the course.
Trench collapses are among the most dangerous hazards firefighters and construction crews encounter, since a single cubic yard of soil can weigh more than a ton and bury a worker in seconds. Under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, trenches deeper than 5 feet generally must be shored or otherwise protected, and trenches deeper than 8 feet or where trenches intersect require the added expertise of trained technicians. Excavations deeper than 20 feet require a shoring system calculated by a registered professional engineer.
The course follows National Fire Protection Association technical rescue standards, giving the crews who completed it the ability to respond to utility, construction and roadway excavation accidents that call for specialized rigging, shoring and extrication equipment beyond conventional fire and rescue tools.
The Portsmouth Fire Department operates three stations and employs 38 sworn officers protecting the cities of Portsmouth and Sciotoville, according to the city. Along with structure fire and medical response, the department fields an Urban Search and Rescue Unit and a Water Response/Dive Team Unit; the new trench rescue certification extends that roster of technical capabilities to underground and excavation emergencies.
The department thanked the Crash Course instructor crew for leading the training in its post.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Portsmouth Fire Department.
