With the Summer heat and humidity arriving water based activities will draw people to pools, lakes, streams and rivers to cool down. With these activities bring the increase risk of water rescue incidents. Summer weather is very unpredictable which also brings an increase risk of water rescues with flooding and flash flooding conditions developing with little or no warning. To be better prepared to respond to water rescue emergencies the WGFC held a 3 hour water rescue course conducted by WhiteCap Water Rescue Training LLC.

The purpose of the course is to prepare the first responders who arrive on the scene of a water incident to recognize the risks and dangers associated with water emergencies and take appropriate actions to insure their safety. The course addressed scene assessment, activation of the Emergency Response System, and evaluation of potential and existing water hazards, rescue vs. recovery and personal safety measures. Operating on water rescue incidents poses considerable risk to the fire fighter, an analysis (conducted by NFPA) of fire fighter fatalities from 1995 to 2004 identified drowning as the sixth leading cause of death in this population of 976 fire fighters.

The course content meets NFPA-1670 - Standards on Operations and Training for Technical Rescue Incidents - Water Search and Rescue - Awareness Level. 36 WGFC members attended the course and completed the written test. The Training Committee along with the Line Officers thank our members for their continued commitment to training and public service.