Island Firefighters Test New Water Rescue Equipment

Mackinac Island firefighters, in Haldimand Bay Sunday, February 6, tested their new water rescue dry suits and the new ice sled it purchased. The group practiced the rescue of a person who had fallen through the ice.

By Ryan Schlehuber

Members of the Mackinac Island Fire Department tested newly acquired water rescue equipment on the ice in Haldimand Bay Sunday, February 6. A snowmobile rescue sled, three dry suits, rope, and other ice rescue gear has been added to the department’s arsenal this winter.

The sled can carry rescue equipment or transport an injured person and is expected to cost about $4,500. It was purchased through a grant from the Mackinac Island Community Foundation.

The dry suits and accessories cost about $2,800. Ben Mosley, who leads the department’s five-man water rescue and diving team, said that equipment was funded through personal donations, an additional city contribution of up to $1,000, and from the department’s operating budget.

The fire department is trying to raise close to $45,000 to acquire more ice rescue equipment, for above and below the ice, and for additional training.

“It’s not just these five guys doing the rescuing, it’s the whole department,” said Mr. Mosley. “Even the mayor and police chief have to know what they’re supposed to do. Other guys in our department need to know a bit about diving, about how to perform line signals when we’re under water.”

Since the group was formed five years ago, the five men (Mr. Mosley, Bob Roach, Franc Doud, Joe Gugin, and Chris Szabo) have been using their own equipment and paying for their own certification training.

“Each one of us eventually is going to need the same kind of equipment as the other guy has, for two reasons,” said Mr. Mosley: “One, so each diver is familiar with the other’s equipment in case of faulty equipment during a rescue, and two, for maintenance and back-up equipment reasons.”

Other firefighters and city emergency rescue officials involved in Sunday’s training were firefighters, including Fire Chief Dennis Bradley, Fire Captain Dan Wightman, Rodney Myers, and George Wellington Jr., and Medical Center’s EMT Rick Linn and Dr. Don Weersing.

The new dry suits are one-piece suits that takes only minutes to put on. It has ice awls, or ice picks, attached to the suit and rope that a diver can use to pull himself out of the ice and water.

“It was cold water in there, but the suits keep you so warm that I was sweating,” said firefighter Joe Gugin.

The group ran simulations of a person falling through the ice Sunday. The first drills were to allow the firefighters to get acquainted with the new suits and equipment. Afterward, the group ran what Mr. Mosley calls “high speed scenarios.”

“We want to be able to respond as quickly as we can,” said Mr. Mosley. By running high speed scenarios, he said, it gets the men thinking and reacting quickly, but also intelligently. In a rescue, minutes and seconds count for everything in saving a life.

As an island, Mackinac is isolated, said Mr. Mosley, and it cannot depend on mainland help for many emergencies requiring immediate response, and thus, Island emergency units must rely on themselves and train themselves to prepare for anything.

“We deal with marine traffic such as ferry transportation, deep water in Lake Huron, zero visibility conditions with our inland lakes, like the ones at the golf courses, and ice conditions,” he said. “Lake Huron’s ice bridge in the winter time is a major highway for snowmobiles that are operated by many people who have amateur skills to operate the vehicle. We have all these situations that we need to be prepared for in case of an emergency.”

The United States Coast Guard discourages travel on the ice bridge between Mackinac Island and St. Ignace, which is usually marked with old Christmas trees by Island residents. Last winter, several people lost snowmobiles through the ice, but nobody drowned.

“Because we’re an island, there’s always the possibility of limited access to the Island throughout the year,” Mr. Mosley said. “We’ve had emergency response help from other departments such as from St. Ignace before, but when the weather is bad, we face the fact that we’re absolutely on our own at times. We have to be prepared for that.”

Donations for the ice and water program should be made specifically to the water rescue team. Donations made just to the fire department will be put in the city’s general fund.

The fire department’s address is P.O. Box 122, Mackinac Island, Michigan 49757.