The VRcau - Vertical Rescue Challenge Australia has been conceived to fill a gap in Australian Vertical Rescue circles. Until now, there has been a lack of opportunities for Vertical Rescue Teams to observe other teams working. There has, in many cases, been a lack of "time pressure" maintained in training. Training often tends to focus on technical correctness at the expense of speed, where the real job sometimes creates real time pressures. The Challenge is to balance Time and Technical Correctness for the most efficient result. There have been opportunities for instructors and trainers to share information, but the opportunities for many operators and teams to do the same has been limited. The VRCau - Vertical Rescue Challenge Australia has been designed to help fill those gaps. We have borrowed ideas from South Africa's High Angle Rescue Challenge, and out of necessity, had to develop some of our own. We hope it makes an interesting blend. The influence of the South African Rescue Challenge is not accidental. Their formula and standards are world class. We aim to compete... For the inaugural Vertical Rescue Challenge - VRC2k - we wanted to keep the event "small", so that we could iron out the bugs of a first time event, and develop a quality formula for future Challenges. A total of eight Vertical Rescue Teams from the New South Wales State Emergency Service and New South Wales Fire Brigade competed in the event on November 4 and 5, 2000. Observers came from all around Australia to attend the symposiums sessions and watch the competition. For 2002, we openly encourage as many teams as possible from any service, anywhere to come and compete, share and learn. |
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