Firefighters in UK finals of contest
Firefighters from Lichfield have been crowned champions of Staffordshire's Extrication Challenge for the second year in a row.
The team will now go through to the National Finals which will be held in Glasgow on September 11 and 12.
The challenge involved teams of firefighters from across Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service being judged on their professionalism in releasing trapped casualties from vehicles over 20 minutes.
Each team were given a different car crash scenario and people posed as casualties acted out injuries which the firefighters had to take into consideration during the extrication.
Lichfield Assistant Area Commander, Dermot Hogan said: "This is a fantastic achievement for Lichfield, not only did they will the competition overall but they also have the added victory of coming first in all four areas of testing.
"This illustrates the amount of time and effort they have put into training for this.
"They have now got to maintain their focus and prepare themselves for the National Finals – myself and the rest of the team will be supporting them the whole way."
Lead Trainer, Jeff Parkinson said: "Some of the areas that the teams were tested on include medical care, rescue technique and incident command.
"It was a great day for all concerned and the feedback from the external adjudicators was yet again very positive which shows the amount of effort put in by all four teams."
The team from Lichfield, were presented with the Weber Rescue Trophy by Chief Fire Officer Peter Dartford.
Lichfield's crew saw off competition from fellow firefighters from all over the county to retain their title, with teams from Stone, Cheadle, and two teams from Tamworth all keen to snatch the crown.
Guest teams from Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Humberside and Derbyshire also took part in the competition at the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters.
