NOTTINGHAM, England (Feb. 21, 2007)—Luxfer Nottingham’s new marketing assistant, Fleur Foster, had every reason to be nervous on her first day at work—she spent most of it being cut out of a mangled car surrounded by firefighters!

No, she wasn’t involved in an actual car crash.

The day in question coincided with a photo shoot at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue’s Ollerton Training Centre, where Fleur had volunteered to be ‘rescued’ by Nottinghamshire’s world champion extrication team during their training drills. Luxfer Gas Cylinders sponsors the team, which uses Luxfer products in competition as well as actual rescue work.

Preparing to defend their British and world titles in the forthcoming World Extrication Challenge, the “Notts” team demonstrated the skills and expertise needed to win the challenge again by quickly extricating Fleur from a crushed vehicle in a timed, simulated car crash exercise.

“I was very impressed with how quickly and efficiently the whole procedure took place and how the firemen reassured me throughout the process,” Fleur said. “One fireman talked to me in a very calm way all the time, explaining what was going on, because I often couldn’t see.” Fleur observed that being extricated was a scary experience even in simulation. “To be in that situation for real would be terrifying, so the skill and reassurance provided by the rescue team would be even more important.”

At the World Extrication Challenge, which will take place in Barcelona from 15 through 19 October 2007, teams from around the globe will be judged on their expertise in rescuing trapped casualties from simulated road traffic collisions as safely and quickly as possible. The event enables fire and rescue services to share specialist skills and techniques aimed at improving survival rates, as well as reducing deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.

In 2005, the Nottinghamshire team was the only fire service in the world to qualify for every single extrication event at the Challenge. They went on to win the limited equipment category, which involves casualty rescues within 20 minutes without the use of hydraulic cutting equipment. Nottinghamshire’s Stewart Key was also awarded second place as the competition’s best team captain for outstanding leadership and technical skills.

Vicky Butler, Luxfer’s international marketing manager, commented: “As a local manufacturer and sponsor, we have established a much-valued relationship with Nottinghamshire’s Fire and Rescue Service, and we are extremely proud to be associated with such a professional, dedicated and hard-working team. We look forward to working with the team on other sponsorship initiatives throughout 2007.”