Typical tasks

The work of a gas rescue team falls into two parts: emergency response, which is what most people imagine, and preventive work, which takes most of the working time and prevents most of the emergencies.

Emergency response

Rescue of people

The first priority is always people. Rescuers enter the hazardous area in breathing apparatus, find the casualties, give them breathing protection (an escape hood or a spare mask), and carry or guide them to fresh air. First aid continues outside the danger zone until medical services take over.

Reconnaissance

Before and during the operation the team establishes what has happened: which substance is involved, where the release is, how far the cloud has spread, whether there is a fire or explosion risk, and which people may still be inside. Gas measurements are taken at the boundary and inside the area and reported to the incident commander at fixed intervals.

Stopping the release

Where it is safe to do so, rescuers close valves, fit clamps and plugs, transfer product, or isolate equipment by blanking. These actions are agreed with the facility's operating staff, who know the process.

Ventilation and dilution

Natural or forced ventilation, water curtains and steam curtains are used to reduce concentrations, to keep a gas cloud away from people and ignition sources, and to bring the atmosphere back to normal before other services can work without respiratory protection.

Support to other services

Gas rescuers often work alongside firefighters, ambulance crews and the facility's own staff, providing measurements, breathing apparatus support and rescue cover for people who have to enter the area.

Preventive work

Gas-hazardous work permits

Much routine maintenance — cleaning tanks, repairing pipelines, entering vessels and wells — is classified as gas-hazardous. The rescue service checks preparation (isolation, purging, ventilation), measures the atmosphere, issues or endorses permits and stands by while the work is carried out.

Inspections

Teams regularly inspect the facilities they protect: escape routes, alarm systems, fixed gas detectors, emergency showers, stored respiratory protection and emergency plans. Defects are reported before they turn into incidents.

Training of plant personnel

Operators are trained to use escape sets and filter masks, to recognise alarms and to act in the first minutes of an incident, before the rescue team arrives.

Drills

Exercises are run on realistic scenarios at the actual sites — a leak in a pump room, a casualty in a tank, a release during loading. They test not only the team, but also communication with the facility and other services.

After the incident

When the emergency is over, the team restores its equipment to full readiness: cylinders are refilled, breathing apparatus is cleaned, disinfected and tested, instruments are checked and recalibrated. The operation is reviewed, and lessons learned go back into training and plans.