When you are a firefighter, you can specialize further, for example as a height rescuer. It’s sort of like advanced training that you can do after basic fire service training. The special training in the area of rescue from heights lasts a total of two weeks and is very practical. That means you climb buildings of different heights and are trained to secure yourself and your colleagues with special knots. You also get to know different devices used in height rescue.
What my everyday work looks like
First and foremost, I’m a firefighter. So in my day-to-day work, I mainly put out fires, help with floods or rescue and rescue animals and people, for example in traffic accidents. Sometimes it also happens that dangerous substances are spilled in an accident – even then the fire brigade is called to eliminate the danger. I also ride with the ambulance service. If there is an assignment for height rescue, my colleagues and I are withdrawn from our other areas of application. In Cologne we have more than 100 assignments a year. There are always certain operational keywords where rescue from heights is requested directly. For example “P bridge” – this means that a person is on a bridge and must be brought to safety. We use a special vehicle to drive high-altitude rescuers from the fire station in Cologne-Ehrenfeld to the scene. Since not all municipalities have a height rescue unit, we are also called to operations outside of the city. Once we were even flown in a helicopter to rescue a paraglider who had had an accident from a treetop in a forest about an hour’s drive away. One of us climbed up to fix a rope over the person. We roped down the casualty using a so-called rescue harness.
The question always asked at parties
At parties and in my private life I am often asked about our operations and what it is like to work at height. I then tell them that no two assignments are the same because, depending on the location and situation, there are always new conditions that you have to adapt to. Recently, for example, we had a mission in downtown Cologne where drunk young people climbed onto a construction crane at night. Witnesses then alerted us and we climbed afterwards. One of the youths had a medical emergency at a height of 60 meters. The deployment involved a great deal of organizational effort. So first we had to bring our material upstairs, fasten the ropes and give the young person medical care because he had suddenly started having cramps. We had very little space on top of the crane, it was also very windy, visibility was poor and it started to rain.
What qualities do you need for the job
It is particularly important to be free from giddiness. Whether you have this ability is tested before the start of the training with “sight climbing”. This is a kind of selection process in which candidates have to master several exercises in order to be admitted to the training. For example, you have to climb a 30 meter high turntable ladder – but you are secured at the bottom. Later, with more experience, you can also practice on wind turbines, at a height of 160 meters on Cologne Cathedral or on the crane houses.