A team of technical rescuers saves lives in the Las Vegas Valley

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – No matter how much they train, members of the Las Vegas Fire Rescue team say their greatest asset is their ability to deal with the unexpected.

“You can train all day, but usually when you show up, it’s something you’ve never seen before,” said Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Capt. Anthony Klinker.

The team consists of about 40 people. These are people brought up from various ranks in the fire department, who undergo extensive eight-week training at the academy.

“When people call 911 and we get to the scene, usually no one else comes,” Klinker explained.

Klinker shared that the technical rescue team will rescue people in elevators, in Red Rock or even in a tree.

“A lot of palm tree rescues, it’s weird to think that palm tree rescue is a thing, but people turn over neglected palm trees and they end up with a huge skirt of palm fronds,” Klinker said.

They can also be called for heavy vehicle recovery, water rescue and structural demolition.

Back in September, the team got to test their flexibility during a rescue operation near Kyle Canyon Road.

Engineer Rachel Pearce says they received a call for rescue workers in the trench and were on the way to develop a plan.

When they arrived at the scene, Pierce says they learned the victim had fallen into a hole made with a round drill and had to turn around on the fly.

“We arrived on scene, we saw what we had, we saw the resources and equipment we had on scene, the condition of the patient, we knew speed was a factor,” explained Pierce.

She says they adapted quickly, establishing a faucet block system as the sweet spot. They saved the patient from start to finish in less than 30 minutes. The patient was taken to UMC’s trauma center and is expected to survive, a department spokesman said.

“Everyone performed the work as safely and quickly as possible. We were able to rescue the victim without any problems,” Pearce shared.

In most cases, LVFR Battalion Chief Ryan Eldridge says a technical rescue team will be dispatched because the call indicates it will require a specialized team.

Eldridge says some days they’ll see a few calls a day, while on the other hand, they might go three or four days without a call.

“The day you think nothing is going to happen, it usually does,” Eldridge said.