On a brisk December morning, a woman and her dog walk along a city bike trail next to an ice-covered pond. Her unleashed dog wanders out on the pond and suddenly a small cracking sound becomes a deep splash. The woman is horrified to see her dog scrambling as his hind quarters sink into the frigid water. The hole where the dog broke through the ice spreads quickly as he thrashes to get out. The woman panics and runs on the ice to save her dog. She lies down on the ice to grab her dog and the ice under her gives way. She slides head first into the water.

Two joggers hear the splashing; one runs to the parking lot to call for help. The other looks for a long branch to reach the woman in the water. The victim is screaming for help and bobbing under the surface amidst her dog's thrashing.

Ten minutes later, a rescue truck with four rescuers arrives at the head of the trail to find a locked access gate blocking their way. Three rescuers run down the trail with two ropes and a ladder, while the driver awaits city personnel to open the gate. The rescuers find the victim still on the surface and the civilian rescuer lying out on the ice extending a tree branch to the victim. The ice cracks under the civilian and she falls into the frigid water. A firefighter uses the first rope to tie himself to the ladder and slides out on the ice, carrying the other rope. He comes within 6 feet of the second victim and the ice suddenly gives way. The firefighter slides under the water, pulled down by the weight of the ladder.

Too often, this kind of incident results in tragedy, because many fire departments are untrained and ill-equipped to handle ice-related emergencies. Firefighters, police and other rescuers often become additional victims during rescue attempts. Understanding the conditions specific to an ice rescue, such as victim hypothermia and ice formation, can make the critical difference in a rescue attempt. With proper training, rescuers can save victims more often without risking the safety of their own personnel.

Chief officers have a covenant with their people to prepare them to be successful. The National Incident Management System identifies life safety as a top strategic priority. But with limited funding available for training, equipment and overtime, how can a department implement a safe and effective ice-rescue capability?

A successful ice rescue is based on a recognized and logical process inherent in any rescue operation. This process includes five basic steps:

• Evaluate scene conditions;
• Evaluate victims condition;
• Assess personnel and equipment;
• Develop operational plan; and
• Evaluate the rescue process throughout.

Proper scene evaluation is crucial and should begin immediately upon notification of the incident. Personnel should have a current knowledge of community geography, emergency resources and current weather conditions. The rescuer starts assessing information en route to the scene, relying on preplanning and dispatch information.

The victim's location is critical to determining how to access the victim and evaluating the victim's condition. If the victim is visible from shore, the rescuer can observe the stage of hypothermia and select appropriate equipment or resources to facilitate a rescue.

If the victim has slipped beneath the surface of the ice or water, the situation becomes more complex. The point where the victim was last seen must be determined and preserved. The operational plan immediately shifts to include public safety ice dive operations. It is prudent to initiate the response of a public safety dive team at the same time as the ice-rescue response. If one is not available locally, mutual aid agreements can provide this service. Time is critical, and the sooner the victim is found and medical treatment administered, the better the odds for a full recovery.

An evaluation of available personnel and equipment will enhance the chances for a successful rescue. Personnel evaluation goes beyond counting those who have responded to the scene. Knowing the availability and capabilities of additional mutual aid resources should be included in the evaluation process. Joint training exercises and standardized operating guidelines between mutual aid companies improve safety and effectiveness.

Before implementation of the operational plan, the rescuer must make an analysis of the risk-benefit factor, a subjective evaluation of the merits of the operation. Does the benefit of the operation justify the risk personnel must take to achieve it?

The risk-benefit analysis is not a mathematical formula that yields an absolute answer. It is a much more complex and subjective determination by the team leader on how much risk the team should or should not accept in order to accomplish the mission. The analysis depends on the knowledge, skill, ability and experience of the leader. The key to a successful operational plan is to keep it simple and have a back-up plan. Making a swift rescue while minimizing risk, equipment and personnel are the goals of an optimal operational plan.

Conditions of the rescue process do not remain static and the evaluation process is ongoing; any new developments may change, stop or allow an operation to begin. Preparing personnel to be successful by providing safe and effective training and equipment will lower the risk factors.

The cost of preparing a team starts with a preseason review of the team's level of capability. This review should include the number of personnel available and their current level of training, the types of equipment available and the response plan.

Most rescues can be accomplished with a few skilled rescuers working together efficiently. A certification program for rescuers can be accomplished in one eight-hour day. The most cost-efficient way to provide ice-rescue certification is to have an ice-rescue trainer on staff regionally. Several departments within a response area share the cost of educating the trainer, who is then a resource for training department members. Depending on the agency, the cost for certifying an ice rescue trainer is about $425.

Training should be provided by a certifying agency that offers the following:

• Public safety ice rescue training standards;
• Public safety ice rescue specific curriculum;
• NFPA 1006- and 1670-compliant program;
• Instructors with operational experience;
• Affordable instructor training; and
• Current references.

With these factors in mind, research successful departments and use them as a resource. Learn whom these departments trust to provide them with a safe and effective public safety ice-rescue training system.

Once the region or department has a trainer on staff, the cost for training materials to have response personnel certified is about $15 per rescuer. Once personnel are certified, pre-season continuing education and skill review will provide ice-rescue skills maintenance.

The equipment used for an ice rescue should be consistent with the preplanning that determines personnel and procedures. Some equipment may need to be available through other agencies. Surveying the response area prior to the ice season will aid in developing a list of equipment needed. When selecting equipment, evaluate it for safety and effectiveness, ease of use and durability. Although cost is a consideration, substandard equipment never should be used.

The trained rescuer has four major categories of operational plans from which to choose: self-rescue, reach, throw and go.

Self-rescue can be for both the rescuer and the victim. Rescuers need to know how to save themselves if they go in, or how to talk a victim out of the water. The use of ice awls and the proper technique to climb out of the ice are essential skills for all rescuers. The reach technique is simple and used when the victim is close to a rescuer. This form of rescue may be as simple as extending an outreached arm, but more commonly requires some type of extension device for the rescuer to reach the victim. In the throw technique, the object being extended to the victim is thrown rather than placed before the victim. This allows for a much greater distance between rescuer and victim and still maintains a high degree of safety. For these plans to work, the victims must be able to assist in their own rescue by grasping and holding the object extended to them.

The go operational plan should only be used when the reach and throw options will not work. Victims that reach the second or third stage of hypothermia may be unable to aid in their own rescue. In this case the rescuer must go to the victim and make direct physical contact to facilitate a rescue. Exercise extreme caution, as this plan places the rescuers at greatest risk. There are several go rescue techniques, and based on the conditions at the scene of an ice incident, the rescuer will have to choose which techniques and equipment to use.

The one-man rescue is the most common go rescue technique. The rescuer is dressed in an exposure-protection suit and fitted with a chest harness. If a suit other than an ice-rescue suit is used, a personal floatation device is worn over the suit. The rescuer's chest harness is attached to a tether line with a locking carabiner. Then a figure eight on a bight is tied in the line 18 inches from the rescuer and an ice-rescue carabiner (with the locking collar removed) is placed in the loop. This is used to secure the line around the victim. The other end of the line is secured to the shore or to the ice with an ice screw. This system is then duplicated for the back-up rescuer.

Determine the response plan before an ice-rescue emergency, and include a procedure for notifying agencies and specialists. Planning starts with a preseason review of a team's level of preparedness. The operational plan chosen must be re-evaluated continually. Conditions my change suddenly, and the planned technique may be inappropriate for the new developments. The victim may slip under the water in the midst of a reach, throw or go operation, and a public safety dive team may have to go after the victim. Weather conditions may deteriorate, causing complications in the rescue process. The rescuers may discover an additional victim who is submerged beneath the water as they attempt to rescue the original victim. The risk-benefit factor must be re-evaluated to accommodate new conditions. The rescue may be stopped should the conditions become unstable, causing too great a risk to the rescue team.

Conversely, an operational plan that could not be used may become an option as additional personnel and equipment become available. The incident commander must exercise flexibility with the operational plan and respond to new conditions with an alternative approach.

Educating the public on the dangers of being on the ice can help prevent tragedies. With an effective, planned approach to successful ice rescue operations, and public education, fire departments can gain positive public support and lower the risk to their personnel. Sharing the burden for training and equipment can produce a safe and cost-effective ice-rescue capability.

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A 24-year fire service veteran, Steven Orusa is a captain in charge of the training division for the Waukegan (Ill.) Fire Department. He is the director of the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists Response Team, chairman of the Illinois Office of the State Fire Marshal's water-rescue committee, and co-chair of the Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System's water-operations committee. He is the regional team leader for the MABAS Division 4 & 5 Dive Rescue Team in Lake and McHenry counties, Ill. His most recent book Dive Rescue Specialist: Operational Training for Public Safety Divers was published in September 2007. Orusa has provided analysis on public safety diving for USA Today, FIRE CHIEF magazine, Dive Training magazine, and has appeared on MSNBC, FoxNews and CNN.

Basic Equipment for One Rescuer for a Go Rescue

Ice-rescue suit: Provides both warmth and flotation; has universal sizing; and hood, boots, gloves and chest harness are attached. Approximate cost is $500.

Ropes: Water-rescue ropes must be at least 3/8-inch diameter, 2,000-pound or greater tensile strength and flexible at low temperatures. Have multiple lengths of a minimum 200 feet. Approximate cost for 200-foot length and rope bag is $130.

Carabiners: Use assorted aluminum or steel, locking or non-locking with a minimum rating of 2,000 pounds. Approximate cost for one ice rescue carabiner and two aluminum carabiners is $60.

Personal self-help equipment: Ice awls and fins. Approximate cost is $120.

Approximate total cost to outfit one rescuer: $810.

Additional Basic Equipment

Reach devices: Pike poles and ladders.

Throw devices: Water rescue throw bags, life rings and floatation buoys.

All personnel near the water should wear a personal flotation device.