Haddam Fire Co. Gets Ice Rescue Instructor

Many residents are constantly amazed at the amount of hours members of the spend training to handle every conceivable emergency response that someone may dial 911 for.  Each month, at least two scheduled drills take place – and often others for specific teams or topics are added.  In order to make this training possible, the Fire Company continues to increase the number of instructors within our own ranks.  While there presently are four Fire Service Instructors and two Emergency Medical Services Instructors, various specialty instructors are also established.

Recently, Firefighter Jay Selmer attended a four-day academy in Keene, New Hampshire.  Along with six other students coming from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Virginia and Canada, Jay participated in 12 hours of classroom and 15 hours of on-ice time learning how to teach and certify members of ice rescue teams.  Upon completion of the program, the new instructors are now certified to teach Ice Rescue Awareness, Operations and Technician level courses.

Statistics show that ice and cold water rescues often take the lives of untrained rescuers.  In the Ice Rescue Awareness course, students are taught about identifying the rescue/hazards and starting the rescue chain.  In the intermediate, Operations level class, topics include all of the Awareness items plus all shore based rescue techniques including line tending.  Technician training includes all of these plus all on-ice primary and secondary rescuer techniques.

Technician level evolutions that Jay participated in included removing conscious and unconscious victims from ice and open water, using every conceivable piece of equipment. 

Haddam and our surrounding towns have number of bodies of water that are used recreationally during the winter months.  With an instructor as a member, we will be able to offer Ice Rescue programs that follow a national curriculum, and issue certifications for those who master the skills.  We congratulate Jay for completing the strenuous program and welcome him to our group of instructors providing top quality training for our Fire Company.

More information on the activities of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Co. and ways you can get involved can be found on our website – www.HaddamFire.com.