‘Forcing’ the Issue When Lives Are on the Line

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 7, 2024 / Enbridge
In Maine, Enbridge grant helps Westbrook FD purchase prop door to practise forcible entry

When first responders are called to a building, and come face to face with a locked door, they need to get past it-fast.

Beyond that locked door wait people in distress. A child trapped, unable to reach the doorknob. An unresponsive adult with a medical emergency. An employee working alone who is injured and incapacitated on the job.

"All of these scenarios are ones we deal with on a daily basis," explains Gary Wagner, assistant fire chief for the city of Westbrook, Maine, located seven miles inland from Portland, the state's largest city.

"It's this simple," he emphasizes. "When you're inside a building that you want to get out of, and there's people on the outside of the building who want to reach you, then knowing how to get through a door is the difference between life and death."

But forcible entry is a skill first responders need to practice. Unlike movie portrayals, they can't use their bodies alone to barrel through; they need to apply force carefully, using the right tool, to break through a door in mere seconds.

Practicing forcible entry has been a challenge for the small fire department. For years, Westbrook Fire Rescue has been able to work on the skill only in rare circumstances, such as when a community member donates a building slated for demolition to the cause.

Although sporadic training is better than nothing, there are indestructible training prop doors that can be purchased that allow first responders to practice regularly.

"What a prop door does is allow responders to simulate making a rescue as quickly and effectively as possible," Wagner says.

But with a price tag of nearly $12,000, the Westbrook fire department simply could not afford to use its meagre training budget to purchase the device.

Safety is our top priority at Enbridge; it's the foundation of everything we do. When we heard about the need for this training prop to advance safety in the Westbrook community, we awarded the fire department a Fueling Futures grant of $7,500 to put toward the door.

Through our Safe Community First Responder Program, we are able to extend our commitment to safety and help organizations and first responders take vital steps to protecting their communities.

"What Enbridge asked us is, ‘What is your community need?' This was our answer-the training door," Wagner says.

Now the first responders can practise this critical skill at the station whenever they have time between calls-they respond to nearly 6,000 per year.

Remarks Wagner: "Everyone in the city benefits from our ability to get into buildings quickly to help them in an emergency."

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SOURCE: Enbridge