WHEN it comes to rescuing people trapped in crashed cars, a team of firefighters and paramedics from Northumberland has proved itself among the very best in the country.
For the Northumberland crew – three of them from Prudhoe – romped to victory in the UK Rescue Organisation’s regional extrication challenge on Humberside.
Nine fire services were represented from as far away as Lincolnshire, Avon and Hampshire, tasked with rescuing a casualty trapped in a car within a 20-minute time frame.
However, it was the Northumberland crew that swept the board, being judged best team overall, as well as picking up all the individual awards.
Andrew Pogson, station manager at Hexham fire station, was judged best incident commander, Richard Fairbairn, manager of Hexham Blue Watch, was best hydraulic cutting tools operator, and James Kidman was top paramedic.
Others on the team, from headquarters at West Hartford and Pegswood, were Steve Wight, Steve Wickham and Gary Hall.
The crew now goes forward to the national finals in Gloucester.
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