WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- More than a dozen people from various base agencies came together at the 445th Airlift Wing as part of the annual Confined Space Emergency Extraction Exercise June 21, 2016.
Representatives from the 445th Airlift Wing’s Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Maintenance Squadron and Safety Office were joined by members of the 88th Air Base Wing’s Fire Department, Safety Office and Bio Environmental for the training exercise that took place on the 445th side in Bldg. 4007.
The purpose of the annual event is to practice confined space self-rescue procedures in the extraction of incapacitated personnel from a long range fuel tank behind the #2 engine of a C-17 Globmaster III.
Players for the exercise included the entrant (victim), attendant and runner. The entrant is the person who enters the confined space to perform inspections, maintenance and repairs. The attendant is the personnel that remains outside of the opening to the confined space, monitoring the health status of the entrant and to relay messages and requests to the runner for tools and parts. The runner communicates with the attendant and fetches tools and parts for the entrant and in case of an emergency notifies base emergency personnel and then aids in the rescue of the incapacitated personnel. The runner then becomes the attendant while the attendant enters the confined space to retrieve the victim. 445th AMXS that perform in these roles must be able to self-rescue personnel from the confined space and begin life-saving measures if necessary as precious moments will pass while waiting for base emergency personnel to arrive on scene.