Fire Department Conducts Water Rescue Drills Off Lighthouse Beach

by Tim Wood

            CHATHAM --- Members of the town’s fire and rescue department held water rescue drills on Lighthouse Beach Monday, practicing techniques for saving people in distress in the water in the same general area where a man drowned Aug. 31.

            About a dozen firefighters practiced rescuing swimmers from the shore and from a boat. It was also the first test of new dry suits recently purchased for all members of the department in a cooperative venture between the town and the Chatham Firefighters Association. 

Kevin Moore “rescues” Tim Hunter.

           “It seems timely after what happened a few weeks ago,” Lieutenant David Ready said of the drills.  “We talked about doing this all summer long, it just never happened.”

            Ready and Firefighter R.J. Silvester learned the techniques during a training session in Harwich earlier last summer. The drills involved using floats to rescue a person in distress and getting hauled back in, either to the shore or a boat.

            The department frequently conducts water-based drills.  The techniques practices Monday can be applied year-round to a variety of circumstances, Ready said, including rescues at sea, in ponds and in icy conditions.

            Monday, conditions off Lighthouse Beach were calm, although the severity of the current could be seen by the swiftness with which firefighters portraying victims drifted in the water.  Ready said department officials want firefighters to be familiar with the area and prepared to mount a rescue there if called upon.

            “It changes out here weekly,” he said.

            The department was in the process of launching its rescue boat in response to the emergency call on Aug. 31 when a harbormaster boat already on the scene picked up the victim, and another harbormaster boat got underway to retrieve a 17-year-old lifeguard who saved the victim’s 10-year-old daughter.

            Incidents such as that happen quickly and rescue equipment can be unwieldy, Ready noted, but firefighters want to make sure they are prepared should they be called upon.  The department works closely with the harbormaster, he added, noting that Harbormaster Stuart Smith and Assistant Harbormaster John Rendon participated in Monday’s drill.

            Chief Michael Ambriscoe pointed out that the department saved a kite surfer who was in trouble in the harbor inlet in June.

            “We come out here a lot,” he said, watching the drill from the overlook above the beach. “We work with the harbormaster, back him up, give him support.”

            He added, “After what we’ve been through this summer, we’ve got to do it — we need the training.”

            The department and association recently purchased 21 dry suits, one for each firefighter, at a cost of about $6,000.  Although the department has survival suits and ice rescue outfits, neither allows the maneuverability of the dry suits, Ready said.  The ice rescue suits, for instance, have built-in gloves which make it impossible to handle radios or other equipment. 

            “With these, we don’t have to worry if we have to go on the water,” he said of the dry suits. “You’re protected.”

            Captain Peter Connick suggested the dry suits after watching them used during a trip to Galway, Ireland.  So many water rescues are performed there that rescue personnel are routinely issued dry suits, he said. 

            Ambriscoe liked the idea, and the association agreed to help cover the cost, said Ready, the group’s president.  New personnel will be issued dry suits as standard equipment from now on, the chief said.  Smith said he plans to purchase dry suits for his staff members as well.  Dry suits keep the wearer dry and also provide a level of thermal insulation.

            Silvester said additional drills will be held next week, as well as training on the harbormaster department’s Wave Runner jet ski.

9/25/08