Henderson County Rescue Squad, Inc.
Dedicated to the Service of Henderson County...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2005
The Henderson County Rescue Squad hosted an Emergency Boat Operations class June 3rd through June 5th on Lake Summit. Twenty-Five Fire Department and Rescue Squad personnel from Henderson, Transylvania, Buncombe and Burke Counties completed a 16-hour Emergency Boat Operations class. This new course developed by NC Fire and Rescue Commission Instructors Ray Smith and Neal Speer from Union County is designed to cover NC Boating Laws, navigation, trailering, inspections, launch and recovery, operations in static water and inland flooding, man over board, self-rescue, and waterborne search operations including dragging and dive operations.
Departments involved in the weekend training included: Asheville Fire Department, Brevard Rescue Squad, Burke County Rescue Squad, Etowah Horseshoe Fire & Rescue, Henderson County Rescue Squad and Valley Hill Fire & Rescue.
This course was set up to provide technician level boat operations training for departments involved with Swiftwater Rescue. This is one class in a series of classes provided by Blue Ridge Community College in order to develop a countywide Swiftwater Team in Henderson County. Other classes in the series will train personnel to one of the following levels: Awareness, Operations, Technician and/or Boat Handler.
“The 2004 hurricane season really opened a lot of people’s eyes to the need for more personnel trained in all aspects of Swiftwater Rescue. The Swiftwater Rescue classes that will be held this summer will help Henderson County Fire and Rescue Departments better prepare themselves for any future flooding calls.” Henderson County Rescue Squad Chief Jimmy Brissie said.
A Technical Rescue Oversight Committee formed through the Henderson County Fire and Rescue Association has been tasked with developing specialized teams in Henderson County to deal with such areas as swiftwater rescue, confined space, trench, dive recovery, and structure collapse. “These teams, once underway, will better serve the residents of Henderson County by receiving specialized training in their respective disciplines” Chief Brissie said.
The next course scheduled this summer for Fire and Rescue Departments in Henderson and Transylvania Counties is the Surface Water Rescue Technician (SWRT) program. The SWRT program is a new course developed by the North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal and is designed for personnel who want to become certified as Swiftwater Rescue Technicians.
For More Information Contact:
Henderson County Rescue Squad, Inc.
PO Box 1729, Hendersonville, NC 28793
Tel: 828-692-3487
FAX: 828-692-1642
Internet:
info@hendersoncountyrescue.org
