Ice Rescue Training Drills Put Golden's Bridge FD On Solid Ground

Bedford-Katonah, NY— There is a reason the recent Golden’s Bridge Fire Department ice rescue training on a pond near Route 138 looked like the real thing. GBFD Chief Al Melillo explained the drills were designed to closely resemble an actual emergency as much as possible.

"The emergencies are simulated, but the goal during these training drills is to create realistic scenarios in conditions that firefighters would find themselves when responding to a real-life ice emergency,” Chief Melillo noted. "Just as we train for structure and vehicle fires, we train for ice emergencies with gear and equipment and various rescue techniques to be prepared for all eventualities."

The frigid training day took place last week during a brief sub-freezing cold spell. In addition to the treacherous weather conditions, firefighters faced the additional challenges of thin ice, dangerously cold water temperatures and waning sunlight.

To simulate an actual emergency, crews cut a hole in the ice using a chainsaw. One of their own was then dropped into the icy water clad in survival gear. Firefighters alternated standing by on shore as a backup team and crawling across the ice on their bellies to rescue the "victim" with a specially designed ice-gliding sled. The tools and techniques taught are intended to help to distribute the weight of both rescuers and victims on the treacherously fragile ice, but the rescue team on nearby solid ground is ultimately responsible for pulling the sled and victim to the safety of the shore using 250-foot rope reels.

Rescuers also trained with a few other job-specific life-saving tools as well. GBFD firefighters used a pipe pole and worked with canvas throw bags which contain nearly 90 feet of buoyant rope designed to unravel in front of the victim when tossed on the ice.

The skills honed during this live action training drill could be put to the test sooner than might be expected. In years past, GBFD firefighters have been called on to rescue a group accidently set adrift on a chunk of ice floating towards deeper waters and tragically, in January of 2019, fire crews recovered the bodies of two fishermen who died after their boat overturned in the icy waters of the Muscoot Reservoir on New Year’s Day.

"Time is not on your side, especially in icy water," Melillo warned. "Hypothermia sets in quickly. Every second counts, which oftentimes means going right to heavy duty rescue – which is sending firefighters onto the ice and making the rescue."