Medicine Hat Fire and Emergency Services conducting surface ice rescue training

Water training is done throughout the year, but this week MH Fire and Emergency Services are focused on their annual ice water training.

Fire captain Jason Labash said they are really great at a real rapid rescue and recovery of anyone trapped or misplaced on the ice or in the water, but the training from an outside source helps.

“What they’ve done to us now is they’ve actually helped us recognize that even though you get out there fast, we still want to protect the patient and whoever’s on the ice,” Labash said.

“We’re working a lot more on just patient comfort and patient survivability, so we kept them out of the water, protect them and then get back.”

Labash said ideally to try and eliminate risk for them, they try to have someone in a state where they can self-rescue, by coaching them, or they will try to reach them with an object first.

“If we can’t reach them, we’re going to throw a throw bag and if that all fails and we can’t get them self-rescued, then we’re going to step out onto the ice,” Labash said.

“We’re going to use a rescue deployment craft and we’re going to slide that out onto the ice. That’s going to create some buoyancy and try and get them to pull themselves onto that and then we are capable of going into the water.”

Senior firefighter Ryan DePape says ending up in cold water to perform a rescue is something he has experience a couple of time.

“It’s a shock to the system for sure, but you acclimate quickly and lean back on your training, and everything feels good,” DePape said.

Labash said they will have a couple rescues a year in cold water, both people and animals, which can be quite different.

But with both, they don’t want to disrupt the ice shelf.

“We’re going to try and come in calm so we don’t cause any panic. We’re going to ensure that we’re always talking and communicating to the victim,” Labash said.

“What we find with the victim is or the patient is they’re going to be struggling. So for the first minute that they hit the water they’re just going to try and catch their breath. Then for 10 minutes you’ve got some viable time where they can actually self-rescue or you can coach them to self-rescue,” he added.

“Anything after that they’re going to need us to come and rescue them. We want to keep that fight or flight within them alive so that when we get out there they don’t just give up,” he added.

“Occasionally what they have found is the patient will be on the edge of the ice. As we make contact and reach out to grab them they’ve already kind of given up and then they fall in.”

Labash said they want to encourage them to continue to stay horizontal, kick their legs as best they can and just stay frozen to that ice shelf.

Both firefighters agree that no ice is safe ice, and especially with the climate in Medicine Hat where when it warms and cools, that can create more brittle ice, especially on the river where it’s flowing underneath.

It’s recommended to always be conscious of yourself when you’re out on the ice, and if you do see someone in need of help, call 911 and avoid putting yourself in danger.

by Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat Fire and Emergency Services conducting surface ice rescue training

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