Crews took to Palmers Quarry yesterday for a pair of simulated motor vehicle accidents, Lookout Point Station officer Ed Oskam said.
Fire appliances and crews from Lookout Point, Willowbank, St Kilda and Dunedin City attended the drill.
Dunedin’s high angle rescue team supported the firefighters and their rescue equipment down to the vehicle, where they extracted a patient from an upturned car.
Most firefighters were qualified to abseil down and provide emergency care to patients, but few outside the high angle rescue team were qualified to lift a patient to safety, he said.
Firefighters had to descend more than 20m to reach the vehicle.
A dummy was used while the crew extracted the patient, which was swapped out for a staff member for the ascent of the cliff.
Using a live patient for the climb ensured the crews took the simulation seriously, Mr Oskam said.
It was important for firefighters to replicate realistic scenarios so they could maintain their skills.
Crews would typically participate in a simulation of this calibre once a year.
The exact circumstances of the drill were not common in real emergencies, but they did happen.
"We have to think of worst-case scenarios."
A few years ago emergency services had to rescue four patients who had gone down a steep hillside in a car in Highcliff Rd, which was a very similar situation to the training simulation, he said.
