The Somerville Fire Department joined with the Washington Fire Department for an annual cold-water training day on Feb. 6 at the Washington fire station.
After several hours of classroom work discussing the effects of hypothermia, rescue techniques and safety, the firefighters moved outside to a pond behind the station for live rescue practice.
Trainer Jason Chapman, wearing a “Gumby” suit made of .25-inch thick neoprene, eased down into a hole cut in the ice.
“This training is a lot of fun,” said Phil Meunier, a State fire instructor and Deputy Chief of the Washington Fire Dept. “The guys have a great time, and it gets them ready to react in a real emergency.”
While Chapman floated in the frigid water waiting to be rescued, Meunier explained that Gumby suits, which all the rescuers will wear if they have to get wet, keep a person warm even in the coldest temperatures.
Meunier has spent entire days in the water in – 20 degree weather and felt fine, he said.
The cold-water team from the Somerville Department took turns donning the Gumby suits and pulling Chapman out of the water. The rescuer secures a rope around the victim’s chest, and a shore team hauls them up out of the hole.
Movement in the suits is restricted and the wearer has almost no manual dexterity, so getting comfortable in them now is important, Meunier said.
“It’s not a real high frequency thing,” Meunier said. “But when it happens, we need to be ready to act fast.”
Hypothermia is a risk in water as warm as 70 degrees, so getting the victim out fast is crucial, Meunier said. The colder the water is, the greater the risk of injuring the victim during the rescue because their limbs freeze and can be broken if the rescuer isn’t careful.
The last time either of the departments had to exercise their cold-water skills was two years ago when a woman fell through a beaver pond while ice shoeing, Meunier said. They were able to save her thanks to their preparation.
This year, the departments learned how to use a new tool: the rescue basket.
The basket is made of a heavy red plastic and victims are strapped in for transportation. Until now, the rescue teams have had to wait for paramedics to arrive with a backboard before they could transport victims. Now, they can get a few minutes head start.
To learn how to properly strap someone into the basket, the rescuers took turns strapping in their fellow firefighters.
Jeff Kennard laughed as he was lifted and flipped almost upside down while tied into the basket. Thankfully, under the supervision of Meunier and fellow instructor Dave Sheppard, Tim Dostie of Somerville and Nick Ciasullo of Washington didn’t leave room for him to move.
“You really get the feeling of what the victim has to go through,” Kennard said. “So when you’re out there working on a real victim, you know what’s like.”
Although it’s valuable for the rescuers to know what it’s like to be a victim, much of the training was focused on making sure they never become one.
A lot of what they cover at these trainings is safety during rescue operations, Sheppard said.
“There’s no sense in having two or three people in trouble instead of one,” Sheppard said. “We teach them how to read the ice and approach the scene so that we don’t go out to a rescue and end up with the rescuer getting in trouble.”
