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Training day for ice rescue |
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Monday, 09 February 2009 |
By ANDREA POTEET
Staff Writer
In the icy waters of a pond near the Wapakoneta Electric Department, a man struggles to pull himself out of the hole in the ice through which he has fallen.
“You doing OK?” Wapakoneta Fire Chief Kendall Krites says, sliding over on his belly to the man and extending a hand.
“I don’t have much longer,” the man replies, hanging onto the ice.
Krites secures a flotation device around the victim and minutes later, the two are pulled on a sled back to dry land.
This time, it is just a drill.
The drowning victim, Wapakoneta firefighter Eric Snapp, is dressed in a protective thermal suit.
For the Wapakoneta firefighters who practice ice rescue techniques each winter, the drills help the firefighters shave valuable minutes off their response time — minutes that to a drowning victim could mean the difference between life and death.
A drowning victim in icy waters can face hypothermia, Krites said. Hypothermia, a condition in which the body temperature drops too low to maintain normal body functions, could eventually lead to organ failure and death.
Krites said those who find themselves in icy water should remain calm and try to slide their body onto the ice and roll away from the hole.
If that fails, the victim should hang onto the ice, tuck their knees
against their chest to preserve body heat, and stay still until help arrives.
“The more you move around, the cooler you’ll get, and the faster hypothermia will set in,” Krites said.
Krites said firefighters practice this drill almost every year, missing some winters because the ice was too thin. He said 4 to 6 inches of ice is the minimum for the drills. Firefighters practiced the drill Saturday on 10 to 12 inches of ice, Krites said.
For the drills, firefighters take turns simulating a drowning victim, donning buoyant, thermal suits while their fellow firefighters practice rescue techniques-crawling to them on their stomachs and securing a hook-shaped floatation device around them. The device is then hooked to a plastic sled and several firefighters pull it by a rope to dry land.
Krites said so far, the rescue techniques have only been used in drills.
“Fortunately, we have not had to perform ice rescue on a human,” Krites said. “We have done a few on animals, though.”
Wapakoneta firefighter Tyler Steinke said he thinks the drills will help him if he ever does need to rescue a drowning victim on ice.
“We take the training so we don’t forget it,” Steinke said. “When you have to use it is not the time to try to learn it.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 February 2009 )
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