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Safety Corner: Valleyfair Partners with First Responders

03:49 PM • By Scott Fais

Park plays host to aerial rescue drills

emt personnel train on amusement ride evacuation procedures
This is only a drill. In autumn 2024, first responders use a stokes basket to lower a volunteer to the ground during a training exercise 275 feet above ground on the park’s Power Tower ride.

ON A CRISP, PICTURESQUE AUTUMN DAY while the sun shined, Valleyfair practiced for when things may turn cloudy. At first look, this image makes an impact. Yet, take a second look and discover this is only a drill.

“We look for different places that offer us a different variety of challenges in terms of their configuration or the hazards that have to be addressed,” says Mark Erickson, a leader with Minnesota Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1.

Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota, embraced the shoulder season last autumn by partnering with multiple search and rescue task forces who used the 125-acre amusement park to practice aerial rescue techniques.

“They’re helping us by offering the facility as a training place. But should they have a bad day, having previous exposure to the facility is going to help us get in there and perform more efficiently,” says Erickson, who recalls studying Valleyfair’s rides during the park’s Physics Day as a teenager.

Valleyfair Vice President and General Manager Raul Rehnborg agrees training exercises like these are a symbiotic relationship.

“One is to practice extrication and rescues on areas of the property that are more challenging. And the other is knowing how best to utilize our maintenance staff in support of those activities,” explains Rehnborg, who began in the industry at age 17 as a park services sweeper at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Valleyfair’s maintenance team participated in the rescue drill by learning what equipment first responders will need following a call for help.

valleyfair maintenance inspections

Courtesy: Valleyfair

“They now know we might need their manlift, so that piece can already be rolling after they make that call to 911,” Erickson says.

Rehnborg suggests attractions looking to form a lasting partnership with their emergency responders start by simply picking up the phone and proactively calling their fire department.

“I think the sooner you forge those relationships and partnerships, the better,” Rehnborg tells Funworld. “It has to be a continuous partnership. You cannot simply rely upon them during a crisis where there’s no baseline of relationship or understanding of each other’s procedures or perspectives.”

Rescue crews received a fresh perspective from 275 feet above the midway when lowering volunteers to the ground using a stokes basket, along with rappelling down Power Tower’s columns and Corkscrew’s track. The practice sharpened skills that can be transferred to other locations, such as television towers, bridges, cliffs and ravines, confined spaces, and taller buildings.

Prior to hosting a drill, attractions should connect with their insurance carriers to review their policies.

“At some places, it’s a delicate dance of working through the legal process,” shares Erickson. “We’ll actually have a written agreement that gets reviewed and signed by the legal folks.”

In the end, both the facility and the first responders are better prepared for a potential crisis.

“Hopefully it’s not something that we have to rely upon, But, by preparing for this kind of scenario, if it does come up, we can pull that lever and say, ‘Okay, let’s execute that plan that we’ve already prepared for, practiced for, and thought about.’ And that just gives you a lot more confidence,” Rehnborg concludes.

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