Over forty paramedics from the North East of England have successfully completed an intensive “working at height and rescue” training course delivered using the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult’s 27m high wind turbine training tower at the National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth. Not a course for the faint-hearted. The team was drawn from from the North East Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Team and were able to familiarise themselves with onshore wind turbines and undertake emergency procedures in case anyone on a turbine was taken ill.
Instructors from Rescue North East trained the forty-plus paramedics on access methods when undertaking an emergency procedure on a wind turbine using the vertical ladder and fixed vertical fall arrest system, as well as techniques for self-recovery and casualty recovery.
Andrew Tipping, Sales Manager for ORE Catapult (on the left in the photo above), said:
“Working at height is an essential yet hazardous process when conducting vital wind turbine operations and maintenance. Our Training Tower is an open access facility and we are pleased to be working with Rescue North East to support the training of paramedics so they are adequately prepared for any emergencies involving onshore wind turbines.”
Paul Renwick, Managing Director for Rescue North East, added:
“The training facilities and bespoke package available has enabled us to provide the quality training we need to equip paramedics to be able to work safely and carry out rescues in hazardous areas.”
Who are Rescue North East Ltd? They are one of the UK’s premier training providers for the Emergency Services in technical rescue and those industries with special requirements for working at height, first aid and water. It’s good to know that there are trained professional people who can scale a wind turbine and rescue you if anything unfortunate were to happen.
Narec (National Renewable Energy Centre) NAREC- the National Renewable Energy Centre is a UK centre for renewable energy and low carbon technologies. The centre develops prototypes, tests renewable devices to international standards and is involved in installing low carbon technologies. It also trains paramedics in scaling wind turbines as we have seen!
Narec is based in Blyth, Northumberland, England
