Firefighters train for ice rescues during freezing weather
JEFFERSON CITY , Mo. (KMIZ)
Every winter, fire departments throughout central Missouri routinely handle ice rescues.
Fire departments emphasize that most cases involve incidents where individuals attempt to rescue their pets that have fallen into the water. This often leads to a chain reaction, with the owner, and sometimes a bystander, getting into trouble.
Correy Sapp from the Jefferson City Fire Department emphasizes the importance of remaining calm in such situations.
"If you have an animal or one of your children or peers or anybody goes in the water, it's very. Very important to stay calm and to call for those responding agencies
Studies reveal that people are expected to endure only 15 to 45 minutes in water at approximately the freezing point.
"The temperature has been zero or below. But we'll have temperatures, you know, twenties or below that in order to get ice thick enough to walk on. And the rule of thumb is about four inches," said Sapp.
In case of someone falling into the water, JCFD does not recommend the immediate use of warm water, as it involves too rapid a temperature change. The preferred procedure is to remove the person from wet clothes, place them in a warm air ambulance, and then transport them to the hospital.
"There have been case studies where people have been in cold water, cold water drownings that have been revived 30 minutes or 45 minutes. So it's a situation where we're going to continue to try to find and rescue them," said Sapp.
Firefighters state that temperatures need to be 20 degrees or below for ice to become thick enough to walk on. Additionally, they emphasize that the ice must be a minimum of 4 inches thick to be safe for walking.
The garments firefighters wear in the ice rescue mission are thermal insulated dry suits.
"The history behind that is that the folks that are north fishermen would have suits on. So if their boat sank, they would jump in the water, and they wouldn't freeze to death for the Coast Guard, which may take a number of hours to come get," said Sapp.
