Water-Rescue Training Nears for City Crews
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
13 December 2011
By Joe Smydo
Pittsburgh aims to create one of the best water-rescue programs in
the nation, public safety director Michael Huss said Monday,
disclosing plans to put about 2,000 police officers, firefighters
and paramedics through an eight-hour water-survival course and
create about 10 new swiftwater rescue teams, including a pair of
elite teams for the most difficult assignments.
Training begins Dec. 19.
"It's a huge undertaking," Mr. Huss said.
The announcement comes four months after four people died in a
flash flood on Washington Boulevard.
About a dozen others were rescued that day by emergency-management
workers who commandeered boats from a nearby marina. Mr. Huss said
chronic flooding in other neighborhoods -- cars in Greenfield and
Shadyside have floated away in recent years -- also underscored
the need for enhanced rescue capabilities.
Currently, the city has a river rescue boat, inflatable boats
carried on a couple of rescue trucks and a handful of other boats
on trailers. After the Aug. 19 flood, it placed an inflatable boat
at the Zone 5 police station on Washington Boulevard. The
paramedics union says about 40 of its members are trained for
water rescues.
However, Mr. Huss cited a pressing need for additional equipment
-- and people trained to use it -- citywide.
Under his plan, all police cars and fire trucks would be equipped
with personal flotation devices and rescue "throw bags." The city
would purchase 11 swiftwater boats and place them at flood-prone
areas throughout the city.
"I think it's what residents would like to see," said Councilwoman
Theresa Kail-Smith, the body's public safety chair who represents
western neighborhoods with flooding problems.
Mr. Huss said he hopes to create "one of the most robust water
rescue programs in the nation." In a previous position as fire
chief in Johnstown, Cambria County, Mr. Huss developed a
swiftwater rescue team that has assisted during floods in
Allegheny County.
In Pittsburgh, he envisions a "tiered level of capability" that
requires new cooperation among the police, fire and EMS bureaus.
He said the first step is to begin putting about 2,000
public-safety employees -- virtually all police officers,
firefighters and medics -- through an eight-hour course on water
survival. Mr. Huss said the training -- to be conducted at the
former Pittsburgh Peabody High School swimming pool -- will show
first responders how to keep themselves alive and provide some
assistance to others.
Officials of the state Fish and Boat Commission helped to train
city public safety workers, who in turn will train their
colleagues.
Anthony Weinmann, president of the paramedics union, called the
training "a must" for police officers and firefighters who are
weighed down by duty belts and turnout gear. He said the training
also would be helpful for other city employees, such as public
works teams that work around the rivers.
Mr. Huss said the new swiftwater rescue teams culled from public
safety workers would receive an additional 48 hours of training,
some of it in swiftwater conditions at McConnells Mill State Park.
Mr. Huss said the 11 new motorized boats would be stored on
trailers at places such as the EMS stations in Bloomfield,
Downtown and Knoxville and fire stations in Brookline, Elliott,
Hazelwood, Homewood and Lawrenceville.
Two boats would be used for training or as spares.
In all, about 200 employees would serve on swiftwater rescue
teams.
Mr. Huss said the "best of the best" swiftwater crew members would
be assigned to a pair of 28-member elite teams with responsibility
for the toughest assignments, such as rescues hampered by downed
power lines. In emergencies, he said, the crews could be
dispatched to other municipalities if the city didn't need them.
Mr. Huss hopes to purchase the 11 boats with $250,000 of the $80
million bond issue that Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has proposed
floating for capital needs next year and in 2013.
Tom D'Andrea, a city firefighter and Greenfield resident who has
lobbied for flood-control measures in his neighborhood, said he's
pleased with the swiftwater rescue plan. He said he's especially
concerned about elderly residents who might "try to move their
cars and get swept away" by fast-moving waters.
Traditionally, water rescues have been the responsibility of the
EMS Bureau.
Firefighters and the EMS Bureau have had a frosty relationship
over the years, but in the interest of public safety, Mr. Weinmann
said, the paramedics union is willing to respect the
administration's effort to bring firefighters into the program.
Joe Smydo: jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.
First published on December 13, 2011 at 12:00 am