That’s when the value of the competition – and the months of intense training in preparation for it – really hit home for Inspector Andrew Barber and his colleagues.

“Anything you do at these competitions prepares you magnificently for the day-to-day incidents you attend,” he said.

“The first time we competed, in 2014, the first shift back we had to attend three motor vehicle accidents with persons trapped, in a row.

“To us, it put the focus on why we go into these competitions in the first place.”

Insp Barber will again lead his comrades into competition later this month, when they take on the best of the best at the World Rescue Challenge in South Africa.

The six team members – also including John Robinson, Justin Taylor, Stuart Willick, Mark McMaster and Nathanial Wigley – will be put through their paces over four days of competition from October 23.

They’ve honed their skills through months of training – using old wrecks of cars to simulate rescues – and then at the Australasian competition in Melbourne in July.

And they’ve got a lot of experience under their belts – they won the Australasian competition in 2015 and also competed on the world stage in Brazil in 2016.

In South Africa they’ll be up against more than 30 teams from around the world, and they’re not quite sure what to expect.

“The scenarios in the national competitions are usually very realistic – cars wrapped around a tree or lamp post – scenes we unfortunately come into contact with in real life,” Insp Barber said.

“But at the Brazil competition there were some strange scenarios – two or three cars stacked on top of each other for instance. It does keep you on your toes.”

Teammate John Robinson said the technical, and medical, skills gained in competition could be used in real situations.

“You learn a lot of new techniques, discover new tools and see what other countries are doing,” he said. “You can then use that knowledge in your job, and also pass it on to others.”