(Buford, Ga., July 1, 2015) – Members of the Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services - Technical Rescue Team from Fire Station #24 in Buford, dangled approximately 35-feet in the air from rescue ropes to enhance their skills during high-angle rescue situations. 

The training took place on Wednesday, July 1st at the Woodward Crossing Bridge off Mall of Georgia Boulevard, behind the Mall of Georgia.  The different techniques included “pick-off” scenarios, where rescuers are sent over the top on a rope and harness to reach a victim who may be experiencing a medical emergency or equipment failure, such as a window washer on the side of a tall building or a worker on an elevated bridge structure.  The victim is tethered to the rescuer’s rope system and lowered to safety. 

Firefighters who make up the department’s Technical Rescue Team are certified in an array of emergency disciplines including high-angle rope rescues, confined space rescues, collapse rescues, cave-in rescues, and trench rescues.  The team responds to technical rescue emergencies countywide

Firefighters assigned to the department’s Technical Rescue Team (on all three shifts) are also part of the regional Georgia Search & Rescue Team or GSAR2.  They have been instrumental in responding to events like the Buford tornado, Atlanta tornado, Atlanta parking deck collapse, North Georgia tornadoes and other specialty team responses for confined space and high-angle rescue incidents.