A team of Ross-on-Wye firefighters took part in a rescue challenge competition at the weekend, which saw fire crews from all over the country compete in a bid to win a place in the National UKRO (United Kingdom Rescue Organisation) Challenge 2016.

Crowds of people gathered at Webbs of Wychbold in Worcestershire on Saturday, July 16th to witness fire crews demonstrate their life-saving skills in an array of exciting rescue challenges.

Twelve teams from across the country took part in the Road Traffic Collision Challenge and nine teams competed in the Trauma Challenge.

The Trauma Challenge involved a selection of trauma incidents where fire crews were expected to quickly identify and treat the injuries found.

The Road Traffic Collision Challenge saw crews working to safely extricate trapped casualties from a challenging road traffic collision scenario, all within a 20 minute timeframe.

During the challenges, the teams were independently assessed under the scrutiny of experienced UKRO officials in order to determine the winners of each category. The Ross-on-Wye team, consisting of Adrian Phillips, Pat Murphy, Shaun Moser, Simon Griffiths, Matt Richardson and Dan Gray, won the Road Traffic Collision Challenge. A mixed HWFRS team won the Trauma Challenge.

These teams will now go through to compete in the national UKRO Challenge 2016, which will be held in September this year.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer John Hodges awarded the winners with their awards and said: “I’d like to congratulate the winners and wish them every success in the national competition.

“These competitions allow us to share best practice with other services and ensure that we are able to make a difference where it counts, by improving patient care and ultimately saving lives.”