Water, water everywhere is what local emergency services are preparing for this spring.
Humboldt and area First Responders and Emergency Medical Services personnel had a special training session at the Humboldt Aquatic Centre on March 22. The group was there to brush up on its water rescue skills in advance of a spring where water is expected to be everywhere.
Lifeguards at the Aquatic Centre showed the group just how to safely take control and remove someone from the water using a number of rolls and holds. A few of the group got into the water to practise those holds, keeping in mind that the water in local sloughs and ditches would be a lot colder than the heated pool.
EMS personnel then helped the lifeguards with their procedures for removing someone who has been injured from the water slide, so both sides got to learn something as well as teach.
EMTA Rhonda Mortensen, a supervisor at Humboldt District Ambulance Service, is in charge of education for the group. She said they usually do water rescue training every couple of years as a refresher, but felt they needed to brush up especially for this spring, due to all the water that is still in the ditches, covered by even more snow.
"We've been dealing with a lots of motor vehicle collisions with all the water, and we are gong to be seeing a lot of water rescues," said Mortensen.
"We're kind of worried about the spring. There's a lot of water around," said Humboldt Fire Chief and First Responder Norbert LeBlanc during the session. "We had a lot of water rescues last year. Everyone seemed to land in the water along the highways."
Firefighters within the Humboldt Fire Department have also been training for water rescues, ever since a crash on Hwy. 5 in 2007 sent two vehicles onto frozen sloughs on either side of the highway. Crews had to remove two people from a vehicle that had broken through the ice, and one from the other vehicle that was sitting on top of thin ice.
At the time of that crash, the fire department had no gear for water rescues, as they had never had to perform one before. Luckily, their improvisations worked, but they didn't want to be unprepared for any more. So the firefighters bulked up their equipment and their water training.
"We have floating devices now," LeBlanc said, "and our (victim) basket floats. We train with airpacks and gear in the water, too."
From doing that training, they now know that it is very difficult for a firefighter in full gear to swim, unless he or she is wearing an airpack. The airpack, LeBlanc explained, will give them some buoyancy in the water, while the heavy boots they wear fill almost immediately and can drag them down. The airpack can also provide the firefighter with air underwater, like SCUBA gear.
"The airpack is not meant for that purpose," LeBlanc said, "but it will work."
