Texas Stadium Competition
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The Pflugerville Fire Department Technical Rescue Team was the only team to compete in the Texas Stadium Competition and Evaluation inaugural year. Needless to say, they received the judges undivided attention. This industrial setting provides a whole new perspective to technical rope rescue and often times, a new thought process as to how to rig the ropes.
The team competed in both the Basic (the Diamond Vision scenario) and Advanced (open trusses). Their scores were:
Basic: 96 + 5 bonus points = 101
Advanced: 87 + 4 bonus points = 91
TRC, Inc. congratulates and appreciates the Pflugerville FD for their dedication and enthusiasm!
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The 2006 "Technical Rescue Competition & Evaluation at Texas Stadium"
was held May 18th & 19th at Texas Stadium, Irving TX and was hosted by the Irving Fire Department H.A.R.T. & Technical Rescue Competition, Inc. This was a project that Andy Lancaster (of the Irving Mule Team) had been advocating for several years and with his guidance and perseverance, finally became a reality. With the move of the Dallas Cowboys from Texas Stadium to their new stadium in Arlington in several years, there will be a limited number of times that a competition can be hosted at the Stadium.
For those that have never been to the stadium or thought about the types of rescue possibilities that could occur, you would be surprised at the degree of difficulty and the many scenarios that exist! The Irving Fire Department is the "authority having jurisdiction" when it comes to fire and rescue at the stadium as well as special event EMS services on-site that provide care to the teams and spectators. With the ability to seat nearly 66,000 people during sporting events, and up to 130,000 during concerts and other activities, the likelihood of a mass casualty event must be considered and appropriate responses planned and training provided. Concerns of terror threats and WMD incidents are also areas that must be addressed.
As one that had not given this much thought myself, I was grateful for being "behind the scenes" and getting a chance to have Andy and the IFD H.A.R.T. show me around the stadium before the competition began. As Andy pointed out, even though they train for "the big one", more than likely it was going to be a simple accident occurring in the roof trusses, the large screen TV monitors (Diamond Vision) or in one of the many television spots that would require some type of technical rope rescue to assist in getting the patient safely down to the ground. With this in mind, the competition / evaluation scenarios were based on a worker being electrocuted inside of one of the Diamond Vision housings requiring treatment and extrication. Do not be fooled that this is easy! The screens are suspended from the roof trusses and only have a very steep and narrow cat-walk (picture 1) for access that first goes up and then has a sharp change of direction downward to the box itself. The "box" is 3 stories tall and only has one entrance on the 3rd level. Once inside, the team was confronted with a narrow, tight area that was full of electric cables and conduits. To add to that, part of the side that faces the spectators is only 1/16th inch thick (if that!) Mylar with advertising on the front. The rest is the actual "diamond vision screen" with all of the electronics required to operate it. The other two levels can be accessed by walking to the end of the 3rd level to an outside door and then using the exterior stairs. Once inside the 1st level, the teams had to walk down to the opposite end and then climb through a small lift out floor panel (picture 2) and climb down a fixed ladder to a sub-floor area where the patient was located (picture 3).
For those of you that have pet names for me and the tight areas that are encountered at Garner on the vertical site, well, I think Andy can now claim that title!