Metro Area Firefighters to Learn Vehicle Extrication Techniques

Fifty local firefighters will learn the ins and outs of vehicle rescue at the Metro Atlanta Extrication and Technical Rescue Conference (MAETRC) on Oct. 26-27.

During the event, participating firefighters will gain hands-on experience with new and modern vehicle extrication techniques. Select lessons and demonstrations will include: new car technology, HALO, seat ramming, tunneling, working the interior, moving vehicles and vehicles against objects. Firefighters will practice these skills on 25 cars that were generously donated by Newell Recycling.

The course will be led by Captain Robert Joyner and Retired Battalion Chief Tony Bedenbaugh with the Columbia Fire Department in South Carolina. Together, Joyner and Bedenbaugh have more than 53 years of Rescue and Fire Service experience. Both are Rescue Specialists with Municipal Emergency Services, Inc., specializing in Hurst Rescue Tool products. They both served on the South Carolina USAR Task Force I, the South Carolina Regional Response Team 5, and have been instructors with the South Carolina Fire Academy for a combined 35 years.

Sponsored by the Metro Atlanta Fire Officers Association, the two-day training course will take place at the Roswell-Alpharetta Public Safety Training Center located at 11565 Maxwell Road in Alpharetta.

The mission of the MAETRC is to bring top tier training in the areas of extrication and technical rescue to the Metro Atlanta area at a low cost.