Washington Fire Fighters Win in Extrication Competition

July 16, 2008 – Fort Lewis, WA Local F-283 took second place in the 2008 Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee (TERC) National Extrication Competition in Chili, New York, June 24-28, 2008. The Local F-283 team is now qualified to compete in the 2009 World Extrication Challenge to be held in Cherry Hill, Illinois.

The seven members of the Fort Lewis Extrication Team formed in March 2007 and call themselves, “The FLEX Team.”

“Since we have only been competing together for a short time, we are very proud of how far we have come,” says Art Doss, Local F-283 member and extrication team spokesperson. “We began training for the national competition six months ago,” Doss says. “A local auto-wrecking yard allows us the use of their facilities.”

For the national competition, the FLEX Team was up against 29 other teams. Each team completed three scenarios simulating a motor vehicle accident involving a trapped victim. It was each team’s mission to quickly, safely and efficiently extricate the patient using universally accepted extrication techniques.

“These competitions are great because they allow us to improve our skills and our ability to perform the same tasks on the job,” says Doss. “We come back from each event able to better serve the Fort Lewis U.S. Army Base and the surrounding area.”

To see where The FLEX Team is competing next, click here.