July 13, 2011
Vol 13 No 28
January 21, 2015
Preparing for a frozen emergency
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Photos courtesy the Cottleville Fire Protection Discrict LEFT: Cottleville firefighters Jason Thomas and Eddie Hanratty participate in ice rescue training on a golf course lake in the Whitmoor subdivision located in Weldon Springs. RIGHT: Cottleville firefighter Jason Thomas wears a “cold suit” in preparation for ice rescue training.
Cottleville firefighters brave icy waters to practice winter rescues By Brett Auten To learn it, it’s best to live it. There is no teacher like experience and sadly January usually begins the time of the year when ice/water rescue is in need. Firefighters from the Cottleville Fire District are training all month at select ponds and lakes dotted across the district. From rookies to vets, the Cottleville district conducts annual ice rescue training for all its firefighters to keep them comfortable with their rescue techniques. This is the time of the year the department can address different scenarios and practice an array of techniques in order to be more proficient when the moment strikes. Doing drills like these are all about building confidence. “A rescue is a dangerous situation,” Cottleville Public Fire Educator Dan Faulkner said. “Training with the equipment teaches you that everything is going to be alright.” While it appears that these firefighters are working in the coldest environments imaginable, it’s quite the opposite. The cold suits worn today have advanced to a point that water temperature is the last thing these rescuers
need to worry about. “The suits are really warm,” Faulkner said. “It’s not fun by any means but the effect of the weather is nil. The suits are very tight. It’s almost like a seal. There is even a buoyancy it provides.” This time of year several water bodies are frozen, but not completely, which is why Cottleville is issuing a reminder to “stay off the ice” when near water. The department reports that some sources have estimated up to 250 people die each year in the U.S. after falling through ice-covered waterways. “If this were one of the northern territories, like a Minnesota, that’s a little different,” Faulkner said. “Just stay off. It’s not safe Reasons vary for why people roll dice and walk out onto an ice-covered body of water but usually recreation is the motivation. When it comes to ice fishing, the Missouri Department of Conservation suggests waiting to walk onto the ice until local high temperatures have been well below freezing (32 degrees) for several days. With your fishing buddy (never ice fish alone), go out 3 or 4 feet from the bank and make a hole. If there is at least 4 inches of ice, continue another 10 or 15 feet and make another hole. If everything is still safe and you feel
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comfortable, keep going, opening holes every 50 feet to make sure ice thickness hasn’t changed. Remember: ice rarely forms in uniform thickness. It can be 6 inches in one spot, and 2 inches just a few feet away. Hypothermia and frostbite can set in before you know and the situation becomes even more dangerous if you ever fall through a frozen body of water. See FROZEN on page 2
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