MOUNT VERNON – The Mount Vernon Fire Department hosted a training session Thursday at Foundation Park for firefighters on rescuing people who have fallen through the ice.

Approximately 40 firefighters from Mount Vernon, Monroe Township, Homer and Bladensburg attended the training.

“This is not novelty training,” Mount Vernon Lt. Joshua Lester told the Mount Vernon News. “This is a perishable skill that every person in the fire service needs to know and routinely freshen-up on.”

People most commonly fall through ice while fishing or playing hockey or ice skating, he said. Once they hit the icy water, speed is critical for rescuers.

“It’s a very time-sensitive event,” Lester said. “There is hypothermia. When people fall through the ice, you have limited time before they lose dexterity and cognitive abilities.”

At the same time, firefighters have to be careful not to fall through the ice themselves.

“Rescuers from the fire department always deploy with ice rescue suits on and personal flotation devices,” Lester said. “They have built-in buoyancy and flotation for themselves and the victim.”

Firefighters also will have ropes attached to them that are anchored to crew members on the banks.   

“They go out and hook the victim to their ropes as well,” he said. “That way, the shore-based team can pull both out of the water.”

There are boards manufactured specifically for transporting victims off the ice.

“The Mount Vernon Fire Department uses a composite backboard for the removal of victims off of the ice,” Lester said.

He urges anyone who is headed out on the ice to take some of the same precautions as firefighters take during the rescues.

“When they are out on the ice, people need to have personal protective equipment themselves,” Lester said. “A lot of ice fishermen wear suits and coats that actually have flotation built in them. They have ice picks, and they have whistles to alert people who aren’t (on the) ice that they are in trouble.”

As a bottom line, he cautioned people not to go out on the ice if they do not know what they are doing.