Marine Corps Base Quantico -- A worker who starts to descend into a hole on a ladder to conduct routine maintenance aboard base suddenly has a medical emergency and falls off the ladder into a dark, confined space. The worker is unconscious and the attendant with him determines that 911 needs to be called. The person who fell into the hole is positioned under a pipe and cannot easily be freed. The space has about 10 inches of water in it. The Fire Department responds to the 911 call and completes the rescue.

This was the scenario for a joint, full-scale exercise conducted by the Quantico Fire Department, Facilities Maintenance Section and the Safety Division May 24 at the Water Treatment Plant aboard base. The training not only helps familiarize people from various departments with confined space rescues, but also creates working relationships, helps employees recognize potential hazards and gives participants a chance to create a rescue plan, according to Travis Prien, safety specialist with the Safety Division.

Confined space rescues differ from other rescues because such a small space to work in is involved. It takes special equipment and special expertise to perform this type of rescue. One of the foremost concerns in a confined space rescue is to establish ventilation in the small space and provide oxygen to the victim. This is because these spaces often house chemicals and gases, which can cause asphyxiation in a short period of time, said Quantico Asst. Fire Chief Tracy Wheeler.

“The thing firemen need to be conscious of is the fact that they require the same kind of equipment to perform the rescue as was needed to assist the victim.”

During the exercise, Quantico firemen were quick to measure ventilation with a special meter and establish a source of air circulation in the hole by using a large, yellow tube. Almost immediately they also got oxygen down the hole to the victim.

The thing firemen need to be conscious of is the fact that they require the same kind of equipment to perform the rescue as was needed to assist the victim. For example, firemen wore oxygen masks and tied ropes from a harness they wore to the lifting device to perform the rescue.

The victim, played by a dummy, was successfully harnessed to a rescue board and lifted out of the hole in less than 30 minutes.

During a debriefing, Wheeler said that it was a good thing that the Fire Department was able to use the Safety Division’s equipment, which was already available in the confined space.

“Otherwise, we would have had to tear down the tripod (lifting device) and establish our own equipment,” Wheeler said. This would’ve taken precious time, a luxury that is not available in a confined space rescue in order to successfully save a life in this environment.

The exercise went “really well” according to Prien’s evaluation after the training. “I hope everyone got something out of it,” he said to the group.