Two talented teams from the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) joined rescue teams from across Ireland and Europe to compete in the Irish National Challenge 2016, between May 21st and 22nd.

Both HWFRS teams gave an outstanding performance in the competition, with the extrication team finishing with the title of Best International Extrication Team and Best Technical Team and the trauma team winning the title of Best International Team.

The extrication team comprised of Adrian Phillips, Dan Gray, Pat Murphy, Matthew Richardson (all from Ross-on-Wye) Shaun Moser (Droitwich) and Simon Griffiths (Hereford). The trauma team comprised of Jayne Collins (Kidderminster) and Simon Griffiths (Hereford).

The challenge, which took place in Taytopark theme park in Ireland, spanned over two days and, during this time, both teams competed against other fire services, motorsport professionals and a mine rescue team in a range of difficult scenarios which put their life-saving skills to the test.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer John Hodges said: “Both teams have given an excellent performance and demonstrated world-class expertise. Competitions such as this are invaluable as they allow our firefighters to further enhance their skills, which then ultimately enables us to fine tune our approach and respond to any incident in the best way possible.”

Firefighter Jayne Collins, who competed as part of the trauma team, added: “The Irish National Challenge was an excellent opportunity to learn and share information with world leading trauma teams and assessors. These challenges on the world stage give us the opportunity to ensure HWFRS is right at the front of pushing forward patient care and our results give us confidence that we are providing a first class service. We are truly passionate about what we do and committed to continued development.”

Both teams will now go forward to compete again at the HWFRS Rescue Challenge against other contenders from across the two counties who wish to compete to represent the Service at the UK National Challenge in Hampshire later this year.