Cold training

WASHINGTON - Washington County Fire Departments gathered last weekend for the first countywide ice rescue training.

On Sunday morning, Washington Fire Department Training Officer Doug Sanders said the departments gathered at Marr Park to prepare for a water or ice emergency.

Winfield, Crawfordsville, Ainsworth, Washington, Riverside, Kalona, Keota and Brighton all met for the training. Sanders said many departments either don't have ice suits or have recently purchased some and never used them.

The training gives them an opportunity to practice for an emergency and get comfortable with the suits.

An ice rescue mission takes a big team, Sanders said. Four people need to be suited up, with two rescuing and two on standby. There is another five or six people holding ropes to pull them out.

Because all of the departments are volunteer, it can be difficult to have enough people respond from one department.

'If we show up, we may only have three or four guys,” he said.

In those instances they rely on mutual aid to help he said. This is another reason this training is important. Sanders said it helps build trust and familiarity.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. the firefighters practiced rescuing a trained individual from the water. Washington County Ambulance was also in attendance.

This is the first time the whole county has been involved with a training session, Sanders said. He said there was a large turnout, especially from Brighton.

'Having Lake Darling, they're trying to get more involved with it,” he said. The Brighton department also has new equipment they were getting familiar with.