General News
The Fayetteville Fire Department will conduct crane rescue exercises beginning Saturday at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, according to a health system news release.
The exercises will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and March 5.
Organizers say firefighters have not undergone this type of training in Fayetteville for about 40 years, the release said.
“We recognize the critical importance of responding quickly and effectively in emergency situations, and this partnership is one way we can work together with our local first responders to ensure the safety of our community,” said Brian Pearce, Cape Fear Valley Health’s vice president of facilities and emergency management.
Over the course of the drills, 18 firefighters, three instructors and two administrators will undertake hands-on rescue exercises using one of two 197-foot construction cranes being used in the expansion of Valley Pavilion at the hospital, the release said. The public may see multiple firetrucks on the scene and a lifelike rescue dummy being raised or “rescued.”
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The training schedule will allow firefighters from each shift from Fire Station 5, Truck 6, and Rescue 1 and 2 go through the training with multiple scenarios. Instructors from Heede Southeast and Fayetteville Technical Community College will lead each session, the release said.
No one who is not involved in the training will be allowed inside the fenced areas at the base of the construction site, the release said.
Cape Fear Valley Health was contacted by Rodgers Builders and the Fire Department about the use of the crane set-up for training, said Robert Godwin, the health system’s corporate director of emergency management.
“This isn’t an opportunity, with cranes of this size, that is often available here,” Godwin said in the news release.
The training is not expected to disrupt local traffic or other hospital activities.
