Arco, the UK’s leading safety company, has continued its partnership with the Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation (MCRO) to support its life-saving work.

Members of the MRCO undertake regular rescue training to maintain their skill levels.

As an industry leader in safety training and services, Arco has again provided the MRCO with support by allowing the organisation to use its state-of-the-art training facilities at no cost.

Arco Professional Safety Services team members, who are also MCRO volunteers, delivered the training and provided expert advice and guidance to the other MCRO members in attendance.

Last month, 22 members of the MRCO attended Arco’s Eccleshall Safety Training Centre, in Stafford, to take part in emergency first aid refresher training, including guidance on the use of new equipment and a rescue training exercise.

In addition, Arco has also sponsored the MCRO by providing them with branded team polo shirts for when they are on business.

Jamie Sadler, Commercial Director at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “As a responsible choice of safety partner, Arco is committed to supporting the communities we call home, including providing support to life-saving groups, like the MCRO.

“Our safety experts are some of the leading professionals in their field and many of them dedicate their spare time outside of the business volunteering with search and rescue organisations.

“Supporting the MCRO with a venue and training facilities as well as the benefit of our instructors’ time, knowledge and expertise is a small way that Arco can give back and to ensure that we keep people safe.”

Mike Clayton, Chairman of the Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation and Equipment Manager at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “The MCRO is regularly called upon to assist lost and injured people in caves all over the West Midlands, Shropshire and beyond.

“Even though we are a voluntary organisation, it is vitally important that we keep up-to-date with skills development to ensure we can respond to any emergency.

“The support, sponsorship and co-operation we get from Arco ensures that we can be as effective as possible and ready for when the next call comes.”

More than 70 paramedics from the Hazardous Ares Response Teams (HART) at West Midlands Ambulance Service have been recertified for operating in confined spaces following several weeks of training and assessment.

The HART teams approached Arco looking for a facility to use, with Arco welcoming them to the Safety Training Centre in Staffordshire and providing instructors from Arco Professional Safety Services to support the training days as well.

Feedback about the centre's facilities and the expertise and knowledge of Arco’s instructors, who played a supportive role, was very positive.

Phil Piggott, HART Team Leader at West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “We’d like to thank Arco for their support in getting our HART paramedics re-certified for operating in high-risk confined spaces.

“The facilities at the safety training centre were excellent and provided the perfect setting over the past several weeks to undertake this vitally important training. The expert advice and knowledge of Arco’s instructors was also really helpful.

“We look forward to returning in the near future to complete recertification for working at height.”

In addition to re-certifying the paramedics, the training offered a valuable learning opportunity for Arco’s instructors, as they were able to observe how the HART teams simulate and manage trauma events.

Steve Dawson, Training Manager at Arco Professional Safety Services, said: “The continued professional development our instructors gained from seeing the HART teams work has been invaluable and we hope to do more of this within safety services.

"I'd like to thank our instructors, Rob Messenger, Nat Smart, Glynn Bibby and Rich Dinn, for conducting the training and helping build these working relationships and connections with West Midlands Ambulance Service.

“We’d like to extend our thanks to the HART teams for trusting us to support them and we hope to continue assisting them with their future training requirements.”

Arco Experts Support Longest Cave Rescue in Welsh History

In November 2021, nearly 300 people united to help rescue a man from the Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave system near Penwyllt, Powys. The caver had fallen, leaving him trapped underground with severe injuries and at the centre of a rescue mission taking three gruelling days. Arco Professional Safety Service’s Equipment Department Manager, Mike Clayton, and Working at Height Training Department Instructor, Bartek Biela, were part of the rescue team as members of the Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation (MCRO).

MCRO is formed from local cavers and mine explorers who voluntarily assist others who may be lost or injured in the caves and mines of the West Midlands, Shropshire and beyond. Team members can be called day or night and undertake training in all aspects of the technical and medical requirements of underground search and rescue. In the case of the Brecon Beacons rescue, MCRO received a request to assist from the South & Mid Wales Cave Rescue Team to help bring the injured man through miles of passages to safety. As members of MCRO, Mike and Bartek were part of the response.

The 53-hour rescue demanded physical and mental strength and the right equipment techniques and teamwork. Arco Professional Safety Services sponsors MCRO’s training at its facility in Eccleshall every year, to provide the organisation’s members with realistic, practical training that simulates real-life hazards in a controlled environment. The Eccleshall site, equipped with five classrooms, offers facilities for confined spaces and working from height training. MRCO is reliant on the generosity of donors to operate and, ultimately, work to put skills into practice in a rescue scenario.

All MRCO members must have proven caving experience, whether through work, a club or as a member of the British Caving Association. At Arco Professional Safety Services, Bartek specialises in working at height and bespoke rescue training. These skills were put to immediate use during his first, 10-hour long, underground shift involving assisting with stretcher carrying and elements of rope work.

Bartek explains: “Part of my day-to-day role is teaching others how to safely access and recover casualty in an emergency access situation. Outside of work, my caving hobby started with a passion for exploring environments unlike anything that can be experienced above ground. Having this background and an understanding employer who allows us to go out to volunteer in these kinds of critical missions, means that we have the opportunity to take our work ethos of making the world a safer place to our personal life.”

Mike was tasked with rescue rigging, involving installing ropes and lowering systems to get the stretcher down safely. At Arco Professional Safety Services, Mike looks after the equipment department and advises on working at height and rescue techniques. Mike, comments: “Industrial rope access techniques were born from the sports of caving and climbing. This means a lot of the equipment is the same in industry and rescue, helping me to keep people safer at work and underground.”

Arco Professional Safety Services provide consultancy, training, services and equipment to manage the most complex and high-risk, high-hazard scenarios. Specialising in working at height, confined spaces and respiratory management, expert knowledge and experience mean the team can deliver solutions for situations with the highest risk of serious injury or irreversible damage to health.

For more information about the range of products and services provided by Arco Professional Safety Services, visit www.arcoservices.co.uk.

Photo caption: Image is for representation purposes only (cave rescue training exercise)

These were the dramatic scenes as a man was rescued after falling into a waterway in Birmingham city centre.

The man, in his 30s, was winched to safety with specialist lifting equipment and moved to an ambulance waiting on a bridge.

Emergency services were called to  the junction of Rea Street and Bradford Street in Birmingham at around 2.15pm on Saturday.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “Crews were called to reports of a man who had slipped whilst out walking the waterways with a group of friends.

“It is believed that the man had fallen and landed in some shallow water. The man was removed from the water and treated for an injury to his knee. He was given pain relief and his leg was immobilised at the scene.

“Due to the location of the patient, with no road access for approximately ¾ of a mile either way, and the slippery terrain, the man was winched to safety using specialist lifting equipment and the fire service’s hydraulic platform to an awaiting ambulance on top of an overarching bridge."

He was taken to City Hospital for treatment.

Total Access can offer confined space rescue equipment and service.

How would your company cope with an emergency or injury in a confined space?

Total Access (UK) Ltd confined space search and rescue teams are highly experience technicians who have been tried and tested in the most demanding of environments. Total Access (UK) Ltd offers bespoke rescue cover for power station outages, hazardous chambers, tanks and silos entry and working in hostile environments.

Total Access is the industry's leading specialist for implementing emergency response procedures, crisis management and casualty extraction. We pride ourselves on using only the best search and rescue equipment, running regular training and demonstrations to ensure only the best service is provided.

All members of our confined space rescue teams undertake the following training:

• City & Guilds Confined Space Search & Rescue
• IRATA training. (IRATA is industrial rope access – a technique which is essential to fast recovery of casualties from vertical shafts).
• First responders’ with specialist casualty packaging training.
• Emergency First Aid at Works including Oxygen Resuscitation and automatic Defibrillation
• Emergency crisis control.

For more information please contact us today on: 01785 850 333