Rescuers practice ways to perform a rescue on Tuesday at a retention pond near Victoria Hospital. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

ICE RESCUE

P.A. Fire Department preparing firefighters on ice rescue training

Apr 27, 2022 | 9:00 AM

The Prince Albert Fire Department held ice rescue training at the retention pond near Victoria Hospital Tuesday and will continue through the next few weeks.

Crews practiced many maneuvers including techniques using rope and communication to help the person in trouble.

Deputy Fire Chief Alex Paul told paNOW it’s important for firefighters to be well versed in this because the community of Prince Albert has the North Saskatchewan River and it’s not uncommon for them to be called for potential ice rescues.

“We’ve probably been called 10 to 15 times over the winter for concerns of ice rescue so it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s somebody in distress but sometimes when people are on the ice, you’ll get a passerby who will phone it in thinking there’s an emergency,” he said, adding they’ll sometimes have to investigate objects that look like people on the ice.

This winter they had no cases of people falling through the ice but it’s important to be ready for it to happen.

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Others stand by and pull the occupants out of the water using the rope. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW staff)

In life, a saying that is often used is “practice makes perfect” or in sports “practice like you’ll play.” Well for the fire department it’s no different, Paul said, as they typically train as they’ll do in a real-life situation. The only difference being is in training scenarios they do it in a pond of water where they cut a hole in the ice as opposed to the river surface and the pull of the river current.

“We don’t want to have that added risk of putting them into an open hole with water flowing underneath. That would be the only difference in what we train but we’re still training in open water so we try to make our training as realistic to what a call might be as we can have,” Paul explained.

To make sure the rescuers are ready for the force of the river, Paul said they are always tethered when entering the water or going onto the ice. He admitted it’s difficult to simulate the pull of the water and some members don’t have the luxury of knowing what that pull feels like but there are members who have experienced it during their careers.

They are also prepared for scenarios such as rope failure, ice chunks breaking away, and people trapped underneath the ice surface.

“Whenever we’re rescuing someone on the water we always try to go from the safest procedure and then gradually escalate to more calculated risks as you progress,” Paul said.

The first step they would do is pass something to the person in the water such as a rope or life preserver and ask them to hold on to it that way they’re not putting a rescuer in the water, to begin with. If they’re not physically capable, the next step is to send someone out without entering the water. The firefighter entering the water is the last resort but will perform the duty if needed.

The rescuers use a life preserver and rope to pull the occupants out of the water. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

As the ice is now broken on the North Saskatchewan River, the fire department is asking you to keep a safe distance from the water and stay off any ice above water as the weather continues to warm up.

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12