A very dead Steve Le Prou squashed between van and truck is part of a complicated scenario in the two-yearly first aid refresher.Brigade members also had to deal with at the same time - an unconscious driver with a broken leg, a unconscious(possibly dead)motorcyclist whom the van had hit on the way to the truck, an injured passenger and a passerby who was caught up in the incident with minor injuries.

Helipro's boss lives within the Plimmerton fire district and invited us to a familiarisation at his domestic helipad high above Plimmerton. PVFB works with Helipro on scrub fires, rescue and medical evacuations.

The roomy interior of the bigger choppers allows for a multiplicity of tasking.

Your challenge, gentlemen, is to take a large rear tractor tyre, two lengths of fire hose and a railway sleeper from here...to there. To get there requires negotiating 321 steps, some of it staircase, and another 400 metres or so of bush track of varying slope and attitude.

First of the 'good ideas' was to put the sleeper through the tyre to lift it up the stairs... well, it was an idea!

PVFB is training for the Combat Challenge - a competition that is two minutes of hell in a simulated high-rise rescue operation. It begins by racing up four stories of staircase with a bandolier of hose....