Southwest Emergency Response Team (S.E.R.T.) is a cooperative of fire departments from 19 communities in southwest suburban Cleveland. With 60 current members, the S.E.R.T team covers a 250-sq.-mi. area with a population of 650,000.

Fire and emergency response departments work with the service departments in these communities to train in two primary areas of rescue –– land and water. Typical training for land rescue operations include trench safety, rope rescue and confined trench rescue.

The training sessions are generally spread out over several days to accommodate shift duties and other scheduling issues as well as provide optimal time for hands-on training.

According to LeeAnn Laspisa, trench safety coordinator of S.E.R.T, Ohio CAT President Ken Taylor is active in community service and welcomed the opportunity to host S.E.R.T.’s Trench Safety Training. Ohio CAT donated the use of its property and equipment ––a Caterpillar backhoe loader –– in order to provide real world training to the team.

Along with the backhoe, the training relies on Speed Shore’s hydraulic shoring products. The company’s shores are rapidly installed and pressurized with three specially-designed shoring pumps.

The Speed Shore HPV-2000 features a 7.5-gal. fluid reservoir in a rugged rust-resistant polyurethane housing and features a high-volume pump mechanism.

The economical HP-100 has a 5-gal. fluid reservoir and is light enough to carry by hand. The battery-powered HP-200 has a 12-gal.= reservoir and is wheel-mounted for ease of transport along the trench.

All pumps have easy-to-read pressure gauges and convenient control valves. The water-based Summer- and Winter-grade shoring fluids are environmentally safe, cost-effective and cover a full range of operating temperatures.

For more information, visit www.ohioCAT.com. CEG