Firefighters are continually training and developing their capability to attend to any call for help from the community.
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We are prepared for anything.
Our capabilities include responding to hazardous materials incidents, providing medical response in remote areas, assisting in recovery from natural disasters and supporting other agencies in their operations. We also invest large amounts of time in fire prevention and education and, as our name suggests, we are the leading provider of rescue services in NSW.
Every firefighter graduates from our training academy with an appropriate level of skills in rescue. However, strategically located stations in the state are specialist rescue stations.
In the Hunter these include Belmont, Branxton, Dungog, Lambton, Salamander Bay and Toronto.
Firefighters at these stations continue to develop their rescue skills through initial and ongoing training becoming qualified rescue operators.
On Friday morning crews from Cardiff responded to a two-car accident at Glendale. Firefighters were able to apply these skills to assess the driver, stabilise a vehicle that was on its side and start the extrication.
Rescue crews from Lambton arrived with more specialist equipment. Senior firefighters Luke Russell and John Hokin, using hydraulic cutters, quickly removed the vehicle's roof.
This allowed paramedics to assess and treat the driver, who was eventually removed from the vehicle and taken to hospital.