The warmer weather coming our way means the ice on mid-Michigan's lakes and ponds is going to be a lot less safe. FOX 47's Marcus Dash trained for ice rescues with the East Lansing fire department today.
Being a Virginia native I wasn't really comfortable walking on the ice, especially when they had me put on the life jacket. However, I felt very safe being around these firefighters. Captain Cam Howie tells me his training has already come up big this year.
Captain Howie says as much as they train firefighters to save the public from falling through the ice, a lot of their training has to do with protecting themselves first.
"They are all trained on how to self-rescue themselves. If they were to fall through the ice they are trained on the equipment, we currently carry the ice rescue suits and our rescue lines," said Howie.
I stood in what East Lansing Fire department calls the throw bag station, this is where firefighters arrive on the scene and see someone drowning from shore. They throw a rope that has a ball at the end of it, this ball a person can grab on to, and firefighters can pull them in from shore. This is just one of the many stations they had there.
"As you can see we have cut a hole in the ice here, we have put a patient in there which is a firefighter and then a rescuer comes out there and does a rescue with a ghost sling, and a rope bag," said Howie. Captain Howie tells me a big portion of the training is done in the classroom before they step out on the ice.
That's where he goes over different rescue techniques and safety tips he would like them to convey to the people they deal with.
"We highly recommend that you tell someone you are going out on the ice, you tell them what time you'll be back, you also take proper clothing, if you do fall through the ice, and have some type of whistle," said Howie.
