The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor It's pitch black on an autumn night and a car has just swerved off the highway outside Flin Flon. The vehicle grows increasingly mangled as it tumbles down a steep, jagged slope of rocks before finally settling some 50 feet below the road surface. Thankfully the occupants, though injured, have survived. But the emergency crews now racing to the scene will have to use extreme caution in elevating the victims to the safety of an ambulance. Lest it ever happen, this is precisely the sort of scenario where the Flin Flon Fire Department's latest training exercise will pay dividends. Over the weekend, 10 firefighters gained new rescue skills through training that included raising a life-sized dummy in a rescue basket up the side of the Flin Flon Community Hall. 'Given all the cliffs and steep slopes that we have around here, it's a benefit,' said Ryan Russell, a training officer with the fire department. The Office of the Fire Commissioner organized the training, which included written tests, lessons on knot-tying and exercises at the Community Hall and Fire Hall. Russell noted that the training is a prerequisite for most technical firefighting courses offered in Brandon. On Sunday afternoon, a team of firefighters set up on the roof of the Community Hall, taking turns lowering and raising the 175-lb. dummy. On the pavement below, other firefighters pulled the rescue basket away from the building, ensuring the mock patient would not be scraped along the wall.
