General

Team learns valuable safety lessons, earns a top award in rescue challenge

An in-house rescue team at OPPD’s Nebraska City Station just scored a big accolade and learned some valuable lessons that could save a coworker’s life. 

For two long, hot and physically demanding days in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, team members powered through one simulated crisis after another and emerged as the first-place winner for Individual Rescue Skills in Roco Rescue’s annual Rescue Challenge. 

“It was a great experience, and we learned a lot,” said Andrew Holbert, an OPPD steamfitter mechanic.

The Rescue Challenge is a hands-on educational event that tests industrial and municipal rescue teams using realistic crisis situations they might face on the job. 

The training also helped OPPD fulfill the OSHA-mandated practice requirements the team needs to stay proficient. The 10-member team included five steamfitter mechanics, four electricians and a coal handler. 

Rescue teams train for real events

OPPD rescuers hauled themselves up ropes, rappelled down walls, zip-lined from tall buildings, squeezed into tight spaces, neutralized chemical hazards and stabilized injured “patients” so they could receive medical treatment. Every drill prioritized safety and patient care. 

Judges evaluated the teams and gave high scores to those that performed well during each timed event, but the event focused primarily on safety, skill-building and teamwork. Each challenge demands precision, speed, ingenuity, good communication and thoughtful planning. 

“With every scenario, there are probably five different ways you could approach it as a team,” said Troy Krause, a team member and steamfitter mechanic. The judges “look at what you used, how you set it all up and how many people you used.” 

The event also allowed the OPPD workers to network with other rescue teams, learn their styles and see the tools they use. Seven teams participated. 

On the job, the rescue teams at OPPD’s generation plants could face any number of dangers. Plant employees often work in confined spaces with large, heavy and fast-moving machinery operating at extreme temperatures. Sometimes they must lower themselves into cramped, hard-to-reach areas to complete maintenance work. 

“They learned a lot, and I think we are a better team because of this,” said Aaron Madsen, an OPPD senior engineer who oversees the rescue team. “I’m incredibly proud of the guys that went down there, and our team as a whole. The team members who didn’t go down are just as skilled as the ones that went down there. They represent Nebraska City Station and OPPD really well.” 

Roco Rescue trains a variety of rescue teams, including those that work in oil refineries, large ships and power plants.

Different challenges

Some events were particularly challenging. Teams had to traverse safely under obstacles and haul patients up the other side. For part of one drill, team members hung upside down from their harnesses and signed their name on a banner. For others, they squeezed through narrow pipes. 

One simulated rescue involved a simulated hazardous chemical leak from an open barrel. Two patients – one OK, the other unconscious – were trapped in a nearby room. OPPD’s team sent a rescuer down to ventilate the space, waited for the air to clear, then dispatched others for the rescue. 

“These are real things that can happen, and this is why we prepare,” said Ryan Gerdts, OPPD’s director of Operations. 

Brian Kramer, OPPD’s senior director of Utility Operations, Construction and Maintenance, praised the team for its work. Kramer said the lessons learned from the training will help improve an already strong safety culture at OPPD. 

“They represented themselves and OPPD really well,” he said.