U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A RY L A N D | M A RY L A N D F I R E A N D R E S C U E I N S T I T U T E
MFRI BULLETIN A P R I L
J U N E
2 0 2 3
V O L . 5 3
N O . 2
PLUNGING INTO SWIFTWATER RESCUE TRAINING
left: Starting off swiftwater rescue training strong, each student dove into the rapids and battled the current swimming back to shore; right: Emerging from the water, swiftwater rescue students and their instructors quickly formed a comradery.
Dry suits and boots on, life jackets zipped, helmets fastened, 16 students braved the whitewater kayak course on the C&O Canal in Bethesda, Maryland taking part in MFRI’s Swiftwater Rescue Technician class. On the first day of training in early April, the morning temperatures hovered in the low 40’s. “This is nature’s territory,” said instructor and lieutenant at Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Vince Verdadero, as the students partnered up, inspecting each other’s gear before diving into the 43-degree water to drill their first rescue.
“You want to jump in the water heading upstream and face the victim away from you so the victim can’t kick or push you away,” explained instructor Steve Hardesty, who is also Battalion Chief at the Emergency Services Bureau in Howard County. “Heavy rains often require water rescue,” said Hardesty. “In Howard County, we too often have to pick people out of their cars as the waters rise.” During the week-long course, students repeatedly returned to the rapids learning a host of rescue techniques. One of the more difficult challenges was getting
over the strainer. In swiftwater rescue, a strainer is any object that water can flow through but a swimmer or boat cannot; such as cars, fences, trees, debris. If a fence is in the water, rescuers have to go over it since they won’t be able to gauge how deep it may go and face possible entrapment. Students also practiced rope rescue techniques, anchoring lines on both sides of the water so responders can clip in and rescue victims. They also used rigid inflatable rescue boats, honing paddling skills and working together to right the boats in a simulated capsize event. continued page 5