Combat Team
The Brampton Combat Team dominates the most gruelling firefighting competition in the world. They returned home from the World Firefighter Combat Challenge in Las Vegas with their second championship in two years and third in four years (an injury held them to second place in 1997). Their red-hot performance not only extinguished the competition but blew six seconds off the world record.
Competing on the obstacle course against more than 100 teams and 700 of the best firefighters on the planet, the Brampton crew attributes their phenomenal success to experience, teamwork and dogged determination.
"We just put our heads down and don't worry about the others," team captain Peter Reid is quoted as saying in the January edition of the Canadian Firefighter and EMS quarterly.
The 1999 Brampton "A" Team also included coach Doug Comeau, Scott Hewlett, Brent Hastings (who placed third overall), Dan Rowland and Mark Evans (who placed second in the Over Forty Division). It's also worth noting that five of the top seven winning teams were Canadian.
And of course, the top firefighters in the world rely on the top fire apparatus in the world: Superior / E-One. Their fleet includes four aerials and four pumpers on Hurricane chassis and three pumper/rescues on Cyclone chassis. The team at Superior Emergency Vehicles congratulates another #1 team: the Brampton Fire and Emergency Services.
Auto Extrication Team
The Transport Emergency Rescue Committee (TERC) in association with the World Rescue Organization (WRO) operates Automotive Extrication Challenges throughout the world. Today 3,205 people around the world will die as a result of a road collision. That's as many as would be killed in eight jumbo jets crashes. In addition to the 1.17 million people killed each year on the world's roads a further 35 million are estimated to be injured.
Extrication teams practice and learn to respond to motor vehicle accidents. Extrication teams require a great deal of skill and determination to be successful. Today, motor vehicle accidents may involve hazards such as fire, medical trauma, hazardous material, extrication, confined spaces. In this day and age new car technology involves air-bag resistant systems, seat belt pretension systems, boron steel and other vehicle safety advances progressing faster then most departments can keep up with. The Brampton Extrication Team is investigating how to advance its extrication skills to remain progressive in this field.
Challenges offer an opportunity for teams to simulate auto extrication while leaders in this field evaluate them. Each department is placed into regions (Central Ontario), which have qualifying competitions within their area. The winner of the region is qualified to compete in the International Championship with the winners of all other regions. The team consists of five to six members, including an incident commander, medic, secondary medic, and crew members. Extrication teams compete in two scenarios 20 minutes in length. These times are designed to fit within the “Golden Hour” from the time the accident occurs to the time the patient arrives at the hospital and into surgery. The first scenario is a limited pit, which involves only hand tools, no heavy hydraulic equipment. The second is unlimited meaning all tools maybe used for the rescue including the “Jaws of Life”.
Team Sponsors
Biography
This will be Brampton’s forth year competing in Extrication challenges. The department has eleven full time and two volunteer stations including four Squads throughout the city, which respond to all calls requiring rescue operations. The department runs approximately 16,000 calls annually with about 15 per cent of them involving motor vehicle collisions. Brampton encompasses highway 407 from Winston Churchill to the 427, highway 410, 7, and 50. These are all primary commuter routes around the greater Toronto area. The Brampton Fire Department feels that extrication challenges provide excellent opportunities to improve skills and remain progressive in this ever-changing field.
Please congratulate the Auto Extrication Team on its recent win representing our department in Indianapolis in the International Extrication Competition. Our team placed first in the Limited Pit portion and the following are the results from the competition.