Rescue training takes it to the next level

Firefighters, EMTs and other emergency responders got a chance to experience scenarios they don’t see every day at the Machinery Rescue and Streetsmarts Rescue training Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 4-5. Wages and Wauneta fire departments hosted the intense class at the Wauneta location 20 miles south of Holyoke. Around 20 people from multiple communities participated. Above, Kacia Westfahl of the Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department, at left, works with instructor Jaime Ross to practice stopping bleeding using a simulated knife wound. Below, a participant concentrates on a scenario where he had to break into a window from the outside, while instructor Matthew Breininger looks on. The two instructors, along with Cody Jackson, came from Goodland, Kansas, to share their vast amount of rescue knowledge. Later in the day Saturday, participants took it up a notch with extrication scenarios using a school bus, a combine and more.