Rescue Squad Trains To Be The Best With Worst-Case Scenarios

MANHATTAN, IL — A rescue squad specializing in complex rescue efforts worked last week to strengthen its skill set, with team members challenged to a drill mimicking the aftermath of a tornado, and the lives that would need to be saved.

In an orchestrated training event, firefighters in Combined Agency Response Team (CART) were deployed to three different Will County locations with varying levels of damage and fictitious rescue scenarios to navigate.

The exercise put to the test the 472 additional hours of specialized training the members of CART receive. Those hours supplement firefighter certification and paramedic training every career firefighter needs—and that training is what makes them the go-to guys in extreme rescue situations.

"It’s intense, it’s a lot of different things to know," said Bruce Boyle, CART Chairman. "Those guys have a lot of drive, a lot of ownership in what they do. It’s a specialized group of people—like-minded people working together, so we can keep these guys’ interest up, keep them trained, keep them proficient."

In the drill last week, 50 rescuers from 15 agencies were deployed from Frankfort Fire Station 73, with fire chiefs running incident command. They'd assess each scene, determine extent of damage and necessary steps to stabilize the structure, and rescue steps to be taken.

One structure, in the 29000 block of Will Center Road in Peotone was collapsed, with simulated rescues needed. Mannequins were placed inside a car, the roof of the car collapsed, and the car then placed inside a garage, with the roof of the garage then also collapsed. Squad members would "work the scene," using tools at their disposal to stabilize the structure and specialized cameras to look inside, then make their rescue attempts, Boyle said.

Other training buildings weren't truly collapsed, but were marked to signify that they were, Boyle said.

"We put everybody in one spot, and train," Boyle said. "They need to take all their skills/training, put it to work."

The drill is as close as they can get to an actual tornado's impact, and the way the squads operate in extreme rescue scenarios.

"When a tornado type of incident happens, we deploy tech rescue teams to one location," Boyle said, "and then when we find out where the worst damaged structures are, then we send the rescue teams to those locations."

Started roughly 30 years ago, CART is a select group of firefighters that ultimately run "in the background," Boyle said, providing a "support infrastructure" for other departments.

"It looks very similar to an Urban Search and Rescue team, only it’s smaller in size," said Boyle, referencing similar efforts of a wider scope. "It’s more of a local or regional type of urban search and rescue team, where US&R across the nation are state-wide resources."

The number of firefighters that become CART squad members varies among departments—in Manhattan, of the department's 50 staff, fivework with CART.

Boyle said departments from all over call on CART to aid in complex or extreme rescue operations. They've rescued sledders stranded in a quarry in Limestone Township. They've pulled a contractor from a well in a basement in Orland Park. They were called this week to advise on the scene of an accident at a factory in South Holland.

Though calls for their help might be fewer and farther between than more typical fire calls, that makes their training especially critical.

"Even though we do it infrequently, it’s usually really specialized work," Boyle said. "... they call on us, we’re the experts."