COVINGTON, Ky. - The top floor of the Midtown Parking Garage at Fifth and Scott streets will be closed to parking today through the end of the day Wednesday.

Members of the Northern Kentucky Technical Rescue Team will be rappelling off the side of the garage to practice mid-air rope rescues.

Such rescues would be necessary if, for example, a medical emergency or equipment malfunction involved a window washer, or somebody working on a cell phone tower, said Mike Bloemer, Assistant Chief of Operations and Training for the Covington Fire Department.

“It’s an adrenaline rush for sure,” Bloemer said.

Seven members of Covington’s Fire Department are members of the team, and several instructors come from the Department as well. Formed in 1996, the team handles situations that require extra expertise, such as trench collapses, building collapses and mid-air rescues. It’s composed of more than a dozen Northern Kentucky emergency agencies.

The training in Covington (part of the three-day “High Angle Technical Rope Rescue Class”) will take place Wednesday. The extra days will give allow time to get the public’s vehicles cleared off the top deck.