CFD Completes Special Training

Pictured are Firefighters Rob Better and Paul Villani rescuing a victim during the Confined Space Rescue Training.

Pictured are Firefighters Rob Better and Paul Villani rescuing
a victim during the Confined Space Rescue Training.

The Fire Department recently completed Confined Space Rescue Training, completing another recommendation made by last year’s somewhat controversial Matrix Report to the City Council.

A “confined space” is a term used by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to define an area, which is enclosed with limited access such as a storage tank or pipe.

“Until now, the department had minimal capability to rescue a person trapped in a confined space,” stated Acting Chief Robert Houghton. “This training will help our firefighters perform rescue work without becoming victims themselves, which is common in this type of incident.”

National standards require that fire department’s confined space response capability includes personnel, equipment, and resources to deploy at the confined space operational level as required by OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.146.

The department hired a company that specializes in Confined Space Rescue to train the entire department.

The three days of training were held at the MWRA Facility on Griffin Way in Chelsea.

“The MWRA has the training props in place for their personnel and they were great about letting us use it,” stated Houghton.

This training marks the completion of another recommendation made by the Matrix Consulting Group in their report to the City regarding Chelsea Fire Department operations.

The department has now completed over 70% of the recommendations in that report.

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