| Firefighters from the Bedford Fire Department were among the members of the newly inaugurated Westchester County Technical Rescue Team at a press conference and demonstration at the Department of Emergency Services Valhalla campus today. The TRTeam, a new unit of the Department of Emergency Services, put on a demonstration of a rescue of an injured worker trapped in a Consolidated Edison underground electrical vault. Bedford Firefighter Jerome Newman was on the primary rescue team, while his colleague Firefighter Pete Lazaro was part of the support team. The team used high angle & confined space techniques and equipment to carry out the packaging and extraction of the victim.
All together, the BFD counts five of its officers and firefighters among the 65 current members of the TRTeam. They are Chief Mathew Halpin, First Assistant Chief Joanne Aquilino, Second Assistant Chief Jason Siemers and Firefighters Lazaro and Newman. The Team's main focus is to train for and respond to emergencies such as rescues and recoveries from collapsed buildings and trenches, high angle & confined space urban or wilderness rescues, water rescues and other emergencies requiring skills and equipment that are not common among the local fire departments. It is meant to be a tool kit that will be made available to local fire departments when the need arises. Membership on the team requires a high degree of commitment and training.
Team members hail from fire departments around Westchester County and report to Pete Pitocco, the County Special Ops Chief. The Team is headquartered at the Department of Emergency Services campus, where its fully equipped Heavy Rescue and Collapse Unit are located. Team members are dispatched via text message and pager and respond from that location.
The team is still open to new members, and is not restricted to only firefighters and EMS personnel. In fact, the team is looking for persons with significant engineering, construction, heavy equipment and other related skills, training and experience. Interested parties should speak with a Team member or call the Westchester County DES at 914-231-1851. |
