Easter weekend was not as relaxing for ten members of the Dryden Fire Service, as it was for most. Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend were spent with the Ontario Fire College instructors from Gravenhurst, as well as two additional trainees from Sioux Lookout. The group was looking to receive certification, and re-certification for some, in the Ice Water Rescue course.

Local firefighters from Dryden and Sioux Lookout perform training exercises in hopes of completing their Ice Water Rescue Certification on Easter Weekend. Photos by Ally Dunham

The course is a two-part course, with the water factor already having been completed the previous summer. The ice portion of the course was completed with theory in the classroom, training all day at Government Dock and mock scenarios taking place to complete Sunday’s training.

“Summertime, we did defensible tactics, if you get towards a patient that is drowning, they may want to take you down. So it’s a matter of being able to stay away, vocalize caution to the person as well, and different techniques of bringing the person back up, as a rescuer, bringing the patient up to the apparatus that we are using for lifesaving devices,” reported Reagan Breeze, Emergency and Education Officer for the Dryden Fire Service.

The ice rescue component includes practical training but also includes a large amount of health information, including hypothermia, body temperatures, and submerged times.

The group also focused on different techniques of extracting a victim from the ice, as well as safety features on the equipment used for the rescues.

Ally Dunham