EMS Practice Water Rescue “Saves” Six

On June 5, the Clarion Emergency Management Service rescued six boat crash victims from Lake Cornelia.  Volunteer victims, that is.

“Thanks for hitting us, Steve!” joked the Powers family (Bob and Shelly and their sons Sam and Max) as they set sail toward Lake Cornelia’s middle with friend Mason Willey and roped their pontoon to Steve Jackson’s speedboat. Five of the boaters jumped in the water as the EMS approached and followed scripts assigned by Rod Hyden of Wright County Search and Rescue Team.

It took the team over a half-hour to pull the five waterbound victims out of the water. While one of the Powers boys was deemed to have minor enough “injuries” to wait his turn on the boat, the others were backboarded one at a time, dragged to the “crashed” pontoon, given vital assessments, transferred to the rescue boat to shore.  As each backboard went on the deck, it brought water that spread and soaked into the carpet.

 “Do you want his real blood pressure or fake one?” asked a rescue worker, unsure of how to handle the simulation. As the other “victims” waited, bobbing in the water wearing neck braces, they joked back and forth with the EMS:

“The water got really cold!”

“I can make it warm if you want me to.”

Underneath the levity, of course, was a serious purpose.

“It’s challenging, Rod, if its real it’s going to be more challenging,” said one EMS worker.

 “That’s what I’m trying to get across,” Rod replied.

Read more (and see more photos) in the June 12 issue of the Monitor, on newsstands now!