Practice Makes Perfect: Healthpark, DCFD Join Forces for Water Rescue Trainings

By: Freddie Bourne, Messenger-Inquirer

While the aquatic programs remained in full force Wednesday at the Owensboro Health Healthpark, the facility’s competition-sized pool saw firefighters from the Daviess County Fire Department strengthening their skills by practicing for common water emergencies.

Bobby Grant, a Healthpark fitness coach and captain with the Owensboro Fire Department, said the training’s purpose, which will continue until Friday, is to prepare the firefighters in situations in which they need to perform rescue maneuvers.

“(It helps with) placing people on spine boards, how to approach people in the water and stuff of that nature,” he said.

“The reason it’s three days is because these guys work 24 hours on (and) 48 hours off. The next three days gives everyone an opportunity to use our facility to encompass all three crews (on) all three shifts.”

Grant said while OFD has used the Healthpark in the past for these types of training sessions, it marked the first time DCFD were on-site using the facility in this manner.

Nick Wall, lieutenant with the Daviess County Airport Fire Station, said the training helps for responses to pools, ponds, lakes, streams and rivers, among other sites.

“If we had somebody that we may have to get out of the water, we’re going to be able to go in and secure their (cervical spine) and put them on a long spine board to protect their spinal column,” he said. “If there’s any type of injury, we’ll be able to get them out safely without causing any further damage.”

Grant and Wall said conducting the training in a setting like a pool is ideal in order to get procedures and skills down pat.

“In a situation like this, it’s calm water, so it gives personnel an opportunity to train in that calm environment to understand what’s expected,” Grant said. “From there, they can take the skills that they’ve learned today in the calm water and build on that (when) they can go into some swift water scenarios.

“This right here lays the groundwork. It’s fundamental.”

“It becomes more memory,” Wall said, “and whenever you have it built into memory, whenever the emergency occurs and everybody’s adrenaline is up, you always fall back to how you train.

“If you train properly and the real thing happens, you’re going to work in the proper steps.”

Grant and Jason Anderson, manager of health and fitness at the Healthpark, find that offering a facility for rescue training is in line with OH’s mission of serving the community.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to utilize our facility as a resource for these agencies to perform these scenarios,” Grant said.

“It’s important for us … because community is near and dear to our heart.

“If we can encompass what we do as an organization with the (health system) and as public safety agencies … collaboratively, hopefully we can not only train for those emergencies, but we can also educate people ….”

“When we saw the opportunity to (help) firefighters — who are also serving our community (and) doing a similar mission to the point of risking their lives day-in and day-out — we just thought it was a natural connection,” Anderson said, and “we want to serve those who are serving our community.”