Working together to save lives
Story and photos by PA3 Connie Terrell
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| Senior Chief Petty Officer Brent Zado, center, demonstrates for Ipswich firefighter Gary Chapman how to steer the fire department's 19-foot boat toward the station's 25-foot boat for a personnel transfer during boat training June 18, 2008. During training June 16-18, crewmembers from Station Merrimack River in Newburyport, Mass., taught the firefighters seamanship and maritime rescue techniques to help improve the fire department's capability to respond to emergencies on the water. |
First District Public Affairs
Crewmembers from Coast Guard Station Merrimack River in Newburyport, Mass., worked with firefighters from the Ipswich Fire Department June 16-18, 2008, teaching them seamanship and maritime rescue techniques.
"The three-day training course in rescue boat operations is to build proficiency and the crew's confidence level in their ability to operate their boat," said Senior Chief Petty Officer Brent Zado, the officer in charge of Station Merrimack River.
Zado said his station frequently requests help from the fire department's 19-foot boat, which can reach areas too shallow for the station's 25-foot response boat.
The fire department received training on their boat when it first arrived in 2006, but wanted additional training so the firefighters would be more proficient when responding to search and rescue missions, said firefighter Lt. Jeff French.
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| During training June 18, 2008, Senior Chief Petty Officer Brent Zado tells Ipswich firefighters Keith Carlson, left, and Lt. Don George, about the tools the station uses during searches for a person in the water. The firefighters were able to see how the Coast Guard conducts searches in the water and how to perform shore line searches with their 19-foot boat. |
French and Zado worked together for over a year to set up the training for the Ipswich, Mass., firefighters.
The first day of training the firefighters spent eight hours in class learning the basics of boat handling, search patterns, recovering a person from the water and personnel transfers. For the next two days the firefighters were underway on both their boat and the station's 25-foot response boat practicing what they learned in class.Attending the class and performing actual drills was beneficial for all of the firefighters, said French.
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| Ipswich firefighter Gary Chapman, left, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Brent Zado retrieve a "man overboard" during training June 18, 2008. The life ring is thrown in the water as if someone on the boat fell overboard. The firefighter at the helm then has to navigate back to where the "person" fell overboard and the boat crew pulls the "person" out of the water. |
"We've learned some valuable information here," French said. "It's been instrumental in getting us up to speed."
Because the fire department assists the station about five to 10 times a year, the training was an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two agencies."Any time we do joint-agency training we continue to build relationships," said Zado.
The station and fire department plan to train together twice a year, once at the end of the boating season to discuss lessons learned throughout the year, and again just before the boating season begins.
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