To Espinel, it's got the same urgency as though he were in a mad dash to rescue a victim pinned inside a twisted car after an accident.
That's because Gables firefighters practice extricating people from twisted cars all the time -- and they compete in it, too.
Recently, Espinel and other firefighters from the city's Special Response Team traveled to Bethlehem, Pa. to participate in a national competition put on by the Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee, also known as TERC. Also on the team were: Julio Torres, Jeff Stone, Brian Shaw, David Vargas, and Carlos Lopez.
They placed in the top three in almost all categories, and captured this year's award for innovation.
''We can get you out safer and quicker than anyone,'' a proud Fire Chief Richard Cook said Monday.
The real benefit, Cook said, is that the team members return home and teach fellow firefighters what they learned.
Firefighter and paramedic Carlos Eguiluz won third place this year as ''best incident commander.'' He said the competition from Aug. 18-21 was tough.
The firefighters didn't know what to expect -- it could be cars piled on top of each other, or there could be a telephone pole through one.
The ''victims'' were played by nurses or paramedics, who checked to see if the firefighters followed the right procedures, which prevent further injury during the rescue.
''We can't really manipulate the person by just yanking them out of the car,'' Eguiluz said. ``It's basically removing metal and other material from around them.''
And that, he said, is something the Gables firefighters are very good at.
They won the world competitions two years in a row: in Scotland in 2000, and in Johannesburg in 2001, he said.
They practice at Bob's U-Pick, where the manager helps out by asking one of his forklift drivers to set the cars up in scenarios, using piled-up cars, telephone poles and barrier walls.
A speedy rescue is important because there's a ''golden hour'' after a crash where the victim's chances of surviving are highest, Eguiluz said.
''During that hour you start to have irreversible damage to different vital organs,'' he said.
The Gables team won the innovation award for using regular old double-back tape to keep tarp-like covers stuck to the sharp steel edges that remain after firefighters have cut a car open. Those edges can act as razors, injuring the victims and rescuers alike, Eguiluz said. Before, the tarps would slide off if the car was sideways or upside down.
