FCSAR Ice Rescue

Members of Floyd County Search and Rescue practice ice rescue near Rudd, Iowa, on Feb. 26, 2006. Click here for more photos from the training.

Photo © by Allen Murray

This was a fun shoot, despite it being cold, wet, and slippery. The ice on the lake was 10-12 inches thick, which I am told is plenty thick to walk on. However, the ever-persistent creaking and occasional sharp cracks coming from the ice below had me questioning how long it would before this training exercise turned into an actual rescue. A hole in the ice approximately 6 x 10 feet with 17 feet of water below provided an adequate training area. Members of search and rescue, wearing yellow Mustang Survival suits, learned and practiced self rescue, victim rescue, and rescues involving the inflatable Rapid Deployment Craft (RDC). For a handful of the rescuers, this was their first time in the suits and in the water.

The last two weekends I have had the opportunity to tag along with Floyd County Search and Rescue (see previous post) while they participated in training exercises. They are a very dedicated group of volunteers, sacrificing time on weekends away from their families to sharpen their skills and strengthen the team. Often times the services emergency workers provide are taken for granted and little thought is put into how much “behind the scenes” work goes into being prepared for life's unpredictable disasters.

If nothing else, I hope my photos help remind all of use how important these people are and how lucky we are to have rescuers and first responders available when we are in need.

Photo © by Allen Murray