High drama in London : Trapped man freed by London Fire Brigade’s USAR teams

The scene in Dean Farrar St after the callapse. Photo: LFB

Successful rescue

The successful rescue operation, which hit the national news headlines, involved seven fire engines, three Fire and Rescue Units and over 50 firefighters, as well as the USAR teams.

Search equipment

State of the art USAR equipment was used during the operation, including listening devices and special cameras. These were used in small voids to assist operators to locate the trapped casualty.  A 150 foot crane was used to lift rubble away.  Steady progress was made by the Brigade’s USAR teams throughout Tuesday evening and into the early hours of Wednesday to rescue the trapped man.

Contacting the casualty

The trapped worker, a builder from Eastern Europe, was conscious during the rescue, and voice contact was made with him at an early stage. Rescue teams were able to lower communications equipment to him so he was kept updated on the progress of the rescue via an interpreter.

Other specialist equipment enabled the USAR teams to make safe areas to work in, and to shore up the building as they made their way towards the trapped man. The rescue process took 9 hours because of the risk that the whole building structure could collapse if the debris trapping the man was removed.

At around 2.30am, the construction worker was rescued by the combined use of both USAR and line rescue techniques and taken by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital.

Coordinated response

Area Manager Dave Scott, Head of London Fire Brigade’s Special Operations Group, said: “This was a difficult, hazardous, but ultimately highly successful rescue, which took several hours and demonstrated what a valuable addition to the Brigade’s capabilities the introduction of specialist USAR and line rescue equipment and training have proved to be.

“Throughout, our urban search and rescue teams worked closely with the London Ambulance Service, the Helicopter Emergency Response Service, the Metropolitan Police and Westminster Council. The co-ordinated response was a testament to the close working relationship of all the emergency services and local authorities.”

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the cause of the building collapse.

Other London incidents

Since they were formed in the wake of the September 11 World Trade Centre attacks, London Fire Brigade’s USAR teams – which specialise in the location and rescue of casualties trapped in confined spaces - have been deployed to a number of incidents. These include major crane collapses in Battersea and Croydon, a building collapse in Commercial Road, Whitechapel, and a tornado which caused damage in several streets and buildings in Kensal Green.

 USAR rollout

On completion of the USAR capability rollout, which has been procured and funded by Communities and Local Government’s New Dimension programme, London Fire Brigade will have four complete USAR units located strategically in the capital.

Each unit consists of five modules which carry sophisticated technical rescue equipment, including search cameras, listening devices and communication probes, propping and shoring equipment and hot cutting, drilling and breaking equipment.