Photo By Ana Henderson | A group of firefighters from U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground practice using ropes to...... read more read more
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The U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) Fire & Emergency Services (F&ES), have historically responded to incidents in which people have been trapped or stranded by swift water without having been properly trained to safely conduct operations during those types of rescues.
That is until now.
Over a two-week period in late September, 26 firefighters from the YPG fire department completed a three-day training program and received their certification to become Swiftwater Rescue Technicians and respond to future flash flooding that creates emergency situations.
"Our firefighters have never had the type of training that would provide for the safe rescue of people trapped by swift water," said Asst. Chief of Training Christopher Cape, of the YPG F&ES. "We had a water rescue course of some type approximately 20 years ago, but it wasn’t swift water specific. If you don't get recertified or trained by a professional agency you lose the credentials and proficiency in the skills it takes.”
Last month’s training course, which was taught by the Swiftwater Safety Institute (SSI) and broken into two group sessions, included classroom instruction and plenty of time in the Colorado River at a site southwest of the installation.
During that water portion of the training the firefighters participated in several scenarios in which they learned safe and effective rescue techniques, as well as how to properly use some of the special equipment needed, including a rescue rope system, hand signals, reaching devices, float bags and how to use ropes to hold a rescue raft in place.
"Being a technician in the fire service means that you have the ability to actually perform the tasks," said Cape, who also organized the training. "And the way you work toward becoming a technician is to have hands-on experience in the mitigation of the incident."
He added that YPG F&ES had identified a need to have its personnel trained and certified to perform specialized rescue techniques during swift water incidents and with department support from the Ggarrison, funding was set aside for it.
Also, due to last minute cancellations from some of the participants, several openings became available that were offered to other area agencies that YPG F&ES has mutual aid agreements in place with.
This led to a total of 12 firefighters from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma F&ES, active-duty Marines from MCAS Crash Fire Rescue (CFR), the City of Yuma Fire Department (YFD), and Martinez Lake Fire District (MLFD), also receiving their certifications.
Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Kelly went on to explain that, despite being in a desert environment, there are several year-round water ways and lakes in the vicinity of YPG.
In addition, YPG is faced with flash flooding in washes during monsoon storms and that it typically results in firefighters responding to one or two incidents every year.
"In this area we often get rainstorms that will drop heavy precipitation in one location in a short period of time," said Kelly. “The rains, due to our terrain, create deadly risks of flash flooding that historically have trapped or stranded people and washed vehicles from roadways.”
Those types of emergency situations have also led to incidents in past in which firefighters were unable to do anything until the water receded.
One such incident occurred last year in which an employee got his vehicle stuck in a wash and all YPG firefighters could do was stand by at the scene because they did not have the training or tools to do anything else.
There have been other times over the years that YPG firefighters have also had to call for help from other fire departments to provide guidance and assistance in rescuing a stranded or trapped employee.
| Date Taken: | 09.27.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2023 17:08 |
| Story ID: | 454482 |
| Location: | YUMA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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