TWO Newport firefighters were crowned champions at the World Rescue Challenge in London at the weekend.

Malpas technical rescue team watch manager Chris Jones, and his colleague Emrys Davies beat off competition from firefighters from all over the world to score highest in the trauma competition.

Pitted against qualified paramedics, the pair impressed judges over three rounds, which saw them thrust into accident scenarios to treat a series of ‘patients’.

The first test saw them treat a woman who had sustained internal bleeding and a fracture leg after been hit by a London cab. The second involved them helping a farmer who had severed his hand in a machine, when he witnessed a boy falling fromhay bales.

And the third involved a road traffic collision between a car and a motorcyclist who was trapped and died at the scene.

In all situations the pair had to assess the patients to find out their injuries and give them the relevant emergency treatment before handing them over to a doctor, all in just ten minutes.

But the duo, who have placed second the past two years, impressed enough to finally win the top prize.

Mr Jones, 42, who has been a firefighter for 12 years, said: “It’s like a pressure cooker in there when you are in the arena, you are being filmed and people are watching.

“There was a lot of expectation because we are quite good, but it’s a fraction of what you go through in real life situation.”

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service’s road traffic collision extrication team came fourth in their division and third overall.

The World Rescue Challenge is a free annual event that sees crews compete to see who can rescue people from crashed cars the quickest and safest manner and perform first aid on accident victims in the most effective way.

The event gives firefighters the opportunity to practise vital skills and share good practice with their counterparts who this year travelled from as far afield as Australia, Ghana, New Zealand and South Africa.