Tulsa Firefighters Train For Special Situation Rescues

Tulsa firefighters are better prepared to carry out a rescue mission after a special training with the American Airlines Emergency Response Team.

The Tulsa Fire Department usually trains once a month to keep their skills sharpened but Wednesday's training was a little different.

They are rappelling from 85-foot ceilings in the name of safety. 

"There's a lot of different rescues that we may be called to and we just wanna assure that we are prepared for those and that we can get whoever needs to be rescued out to safety," Justin Flake, Tulsa firefighter said. 

American Airlines invited the Tulsa Fire Department and the Oklahoma Task Force out to one of their hangars to train.

"This way we can get together, we can collaborate and in case of a true emergency, we will be able to be on the same page," he said. 

Safety crews are practicing for two different scenarios. The first is an 85-foot rappel where firefighters learn how to rescue someone stuck at a high altitude. 

The second scenario is what's called confined space training.

Firefighters lower themselves down into a small space, hook up to an oxygen mask and simulate a rescue.

And as tough as these exercises can be for the crews, Flake said they are necessary.

"Any type of training that you do is always good to keep your skills up this training is excellent for us because we get our hand on the equipment.  We get our hands on building these systems and we actually go up there like in a real situation and we rescue someone," Flake said. 

And Flake said that preparedness can help them focus on saving lives.

"It also puts us at ease so that we don't have any anxiety, we know that when we arrive to do the job, we know what the job is, we know how to get it done and we get that accomplished." 

Firefighters tell me that every situation they are on is different, so the more facilities and companies they get to work with, the more prepared they will be.