Hull firefighter to compete in World Rescue Challenge

A HULL firefighter is taking on the world in an international rescue competition.

East Hull fireman Shaun Rudland, 43, left for London last night.

With the help of paramedic Andy Wallace, he will show judges he can save casualties quickly and safely at the World Rescue Challenge.

"You start in isolation and you get told you've been called to an incident," Shaun said.

"It could be a house fire, a car crash or a motorbike crash.

"There's a doctor standing over you assessing you."

Shaun and Andy will be faced with an actor pretending to be injured.

Victims have make-up and prosthetic limbs to make it seem as realistic as possible.

The pair will be judged on their ability to work out what injuries the casualty is suffering from and get them to a doctor without putting themselves in harm's way.

It is vital to check the casualty all over as they may have more than one injury.

"They give you an indication of the symptoms and you have to look at heart rate and breathing rate," Shaun said.

"You have got to work out what the breathing is like – it could be rasping and that tells you something.

"You do a head-to-toe check of the body and strip them down to their underpants."

The whole exercise only lasts ten minutes. It's nerve-wracking," said Shaun.

"You can watch every scenario except your own but every scenario is different.

"And when they blow the whistle you have to hand them over to a doctor and give their age, name, what their injuries are and what treatment they've had."

The injuries Shaun will have to deal with might be very complex ones.

"You might have someone impaled by a girder," he said.

"Or I might think a casualty's just hurt his hip when actually he's got internal bleeding.

"I might miss a broken pelvis because I didn't check his feet."

The firefighter has taken part in similar national competitions but this will be the first time he represents his country.

"I'm so proud that I've got there," he said. "I didn't know I was going until a month ago.

"My mum and dad are proud, and my kids – the lads that I work with just take it in their stride and think I'm a nerd."

Shaun has high hopes for the three-day exercise, even though he would have liked to do more training.

"Mine and Andy's shifts clash so we've not done much practical training," he said.

"I'm not saying we're going to win but we should do pretty well."

The competition will be held from tomorrow until Sunday at the ExCeL arena in Canning Town.

It is the stadium where Luke Campbell won his Olympic boxing gold.