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Tracy Engineer John LeBlanc, left, and Lodi Firefighter Geremy Qualia use a listening device during an urban search and rescue training exercise Wednesday at Woodbridge Fire Station No. 1. The training was part of the San Joaquin County Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Programs and the San Joaquin County Urban Rescue Team' Equipment Drill. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
County firefighters try hands at new rescue technology
More than 20 firefighters from across San Joaquin County searched for body parts under rubble Wednesday while using new high-tech equipment.
The body parts were made of rubber, and the firefighters were participating in an urban search and rescue training exercise.
The new tools that can see through smoke, hear through concrete and feel through wood can be life-savers for victims trapped following an earthquake, for example.
"This is equipment we should have had a long time ago," Lodi Fire Engineer Brian Jungeblut said.
He was one of more than 20 participants from area fire departments, including Lathrop-Manteca, Tracy, Mokelumne, Stockton, Ripon, Woodbridge and Lodi, who took part in the exercise at Woodbridge Fire District's Station No. 1.
The tools are similar to those used to search for bodies under the World Trade Center wreckage following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Woodbridge Assistant Fire Chief Jim Martinez, who organized the training.
Since the equipment -- bought with federal Homeland Security grants -- belongs to Woodbridge, the department's staff served as instructors during the daylong training at the Augusta Street station.
When he was done explaining one implement, Woodbridge firefighter Dave Rabara said, "There's not much to it except to get your hands on it."
Firefighters got that "hands-on" experience in the use of each instrument by climbing through concrete pipes and walking through a darkened obstacle course.
Paired with a partner, firefighters took turns using the Pomeroy Core Drill, a tool powered by water that bores through concrete. It takes one person to handle the drill, while another pumps the water.
Woodbridge Fire Engineer Elbert Hash shimmies from a crawl space as Woodbridge Firefighter Kevin Chase leads Hash's line out during a training exercise Wednesday. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
A lighted Snake Eye Video Diagnostic Tool with a head that rotates 360 degrees and attached to a small screen can be used to search for victims in darkened area. Battery- or electricity-powered, it can be hooked up to a larger monitor and even a VCR to record the search and rescue.
The camera can be used for any temperature, from freezing to 120 degrees. On Wednesday, firefighters were searching for dust-covered rubber hands inside a long concrete pipe.
At another training station, firefighters moved around orange blocks atop a heap of broken concrete "searching" for a fellow firefighter hiding underneath the wood platform. The system, known as "Life Detector," replicated someone being trapped beneath a freeway.
"If someone just scratched the wall, you'd be able to hear them," Woodbridge Firefighter James Bell told his peers who were listening closely for any sounds through headphones.
Woodbridge Engineer Elbert Hash holds an infrared thermal imaging camera in an exercise workstation Wednesday. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
Other firefighters were listening to their peers making their way through a tunnel amid Spanish music, simulating the noise at a emergency site. The Hardwire Communications is more efficient than hand-held radios when sending rescuers into a dark building, Martinez said.
The technology is often referred to as a "bone phone" since the sound literally vibrates through the skull in situations with background noise.
Firefighters also used infrared thermal imaging cameras, a technology that can "see" through smoke using body heat. They searched for items including rubber fingers and potatoes.
"Before these, our tools were limited to a flashlight and a hand tool to do the job," Martinez said. "No matter what we have, we are tasked to do the job of search and rescue. Together we can do more."
A Woodbridge firefighter peers into a small hole as Lodi Fire Engineers John Heinrich and Mike Faught bore a hole in concrete with a drill Wednesday. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)
In the past, fire department budgets have restricted the purchase of such high-tech equipment which ranges from $2,000 to $12,000 per tool, said Ron Baldwin, director of the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.
But today, with the help of grants, more are available -- and shared throughout the county. Classes are held periodically to teach new skills or refine those already known.
"We have these classes so we can learn," Woodbridge Firefighter Jaime Ramirez said.
"When the big one happens, we'll be ready."
Contact reporter Jennifer Pearson Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.
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