TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

When divers pulled the body of a 3-year-old Armstrong County boy from the Allegheny River about a year ago, the emotional impact of the untimely death was cause for concern — for the recovery team as well as for the young victim’s loved ones.

“Anything like that that’s associated with children is difficult (for emergency crews),” said Dan Felack, marine commander for the Leechburg-based Lower Kiski Swift Water Rescue, Flood Response and Public Safety dive teams. “You’re worried about how people are going to accept it mentally.”

Such tragic outcomes may be hard for would-be rescuers to prepare for, but area response teams make sure they’re ready in every other way to answer the call when someone is in distress on land or in the water.

“Westmoreland County has coordinated with a lot of the swift water rescue teams to come up with a countywide plan to pull teams together and practice together,” Felack said. “Allegheny County also has a program, and we’re starting one in Armstrong County.”

That philosophy extends to the next level — in Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Region 13, which covers Pittsburgh and 14 surrounding counties.

Felack estimated there are at least 26 certified water rescue teams and 80 rescue boats at the ready in Western Pennsylvania. He noted there was an effort to expand the region’s water rescue capabilities after Hurricane Ivan drenched the Pittsburgh area in 2004.

Since then, he said, a regional list has been compiled of “who has what specialty assets — whether you’re needing dive teams, inflatable boats or whatever the asset might be.

“We train together twice a year, to familiarize ourselves for when there is a large (water rescue) incident. We’re all on the same page because we’ve all been through the same training,” including sessions administered by the state Fish and Boat Commission.

Wintertime drills have included simulated rescues of ice anglers from holes in frozen lakes.

Emergency organizations with boats, life jackets and related gear recently joined forces to extend a lifeline to residents in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties who found themselves in danger from rapidly rising floodwater.

Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department’s water rescue team combined efforts with a crew from North Huntingdon on Aug. 5 to bring to dry land a woman and dog trapped in their home along Bailey Farm Road in Unity.

Greensburg crews also helped rescue 18 people, two dogs and two cats from flooded homes in the Unity village of Dorothy, according to George McFarland, captain of the fire department’s water rescue and dive teams.

Depending on water conditions, McFarland noted, teams may have to rig a system of lines to safely guide boats to flood victims.

“To prepare for a water rescue, you have to have carabiners, ropes and pulleys and a knowledge of how to use them,” he said. “You also need to be able to use a paddle.”

In addition to moving a boat forward, he explained, a paddle can be used to probe ahead for any hazards below the water line.

First responder dive teams may be called out to search bodies of water for missing people or for evidence related to criminal investigations.

Greensburg’s 13-member dive team regularly practices underwater techniques in the Greensburg YMCA swimming pool. Also, McFarland said, “We’re swimming to keep in condition.”

Divers must gauge how many layers of clothing to wear under their dry suit to adjust for the temperature of the water. McFarland noted the suit provides a diver protection against contaminants that might be in the water, ranging from raw sewage to spilled fuel.

The Greensburg dive team benefits from having masks equipped for underwater communication. “The mask has a microphone and earphone, and there’s a 200-foot line attached to the surface unit, so they can talk back and forth,” McFarland said.

It takes quite a bit of investment, in both dollars and personal effort, to keep organizations such as the Lower Kiski rescue group ready to help those in peril.

The group’s equipment, including three inflatable boats and a trailer, has a replacement value of about $200,000, according to Felack. There are more than a dozen members on the specialized response teams. Many of them have completed 75 hours of training in all aspects of water rescue skills, thus attaining the top “technician” rating.

That’s not including more than 1,000 hours spent last year completing drills and maintaining equipment.

“Sometimes it takes several years to get everyone trained to the technician level,” said Brad James, deputy chief of the Eureka Fire Rescue and EMS organization in Tarentum. “In addition to the time that’s required and the availability of team members, we need the water conditions to cooperate. It requires swift water to do swift water training.”

Eureka has several boats in its fleet, ranging from a 24-foot vessel for battling fires on and along the Allegheny River to a 13-foot inflatable model that can be maneuvered for swift water rescues, James said.

“Since we’re so prone to flooding in Western Pennsylvania,” James said, “some of our boats and motors have been supported initially with grants through Region 13.”

The Greensburg rescue team is equipped with a large aluminum boat and seven smaller inflatables.

“Region 13 has given us some dry suits and helmets and some personal flotation devices, but the main part of our funding is supplied by the City of Greensburg,” McFarland said. “As the years have gone by, grants have been harder to get, and people don’t donate like they used to.”

Sonar is an important tool in water rescues to detect objects below the surface. James noted the Eureka team is trying out a new hand-held sonar device that offers greater flexibility compared to a stationary version mounted on a boat.

The Lower Kiski rescue group is experimenting with a sonar device that can be used to search underneath a boat while it’s in a stationary position.

“Typically, the boat has to be moving,” Felack said. Because of sediment and other debris, he noted, “One of the big issues in our Western Pennsylvania waters is the lack of visibility.”

Ropes, ATVs assist in rescues

Water rescues aren’t the only incidents that require first responders to work with ropes. On Aug. 14, Sardis firefighters rigged a rope system to lower a man in a stretcher over steep terrain at Duff Park in Murrysville.

The fire department was one of several response units that combined efforts to transfer the man over varied terrain to a medical helicopter after he fell at the park.

It was the fourth time this year Sardis volunteers broke out their rope rescue gear, according to Fire Chief Cody Paiano. Though not frequent, he said, such physical rescues aren’t uncommon.

The department has used ropes to rescue motorists after their cars crashed over hillsides. In another emergency call, Paiano said, “A man was working on his home and fell down into his basement. We had to bring him out using ropes. It took maybe a half-dozen people to do it.”

Muscle power usually is required to effect a rope rescue, but Paiano noted a system of pulleys allows firefighters to reduce the burden. “By using two double pulleys, we’re pulling 100 pounds each instead of 400 pounds,” he said.

After formal training in rope techniques, members of the Sardis department regularly brush up on their skills at the fire station. “We try to run it weekly in-house,” Paiano said.

The Westmoreland County Community College Public Safety Training Center in South Huntingdon is among facilities where first responders can learn and practice rope rigging, rappelling and other abilities they can draw upon when taking part in rescues.

A course on basic rigging for a rope rescue involves 16 hours of instruction, on top of a similar commitment for an introductory fire service course, according to center Director Marc Jackson.

Preparing for a high-angle rescue involves at least 32 hours of training plus additional time to complete a certification exam. Such rescues, Jackson noted, “could be off a cliff or a large multistory building.”

Off-road utility terrain vehicles played a part in the rescue effort at Duff Park, as they have in searches for missing persons and other emergencies in areas not easily accessible by other means.

Among organizations that can field such vehicles is the Westmoreland County Rough Terrain Fire and Rescue Team, headquartered at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.

The team’s 70-some members operate all-terrain vehicles for an average of about 25 emergency responses each year in an area spanning Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana counties.

“We’re a mix of people who just want to come out and assist, but we’re not part of one particular fire department,” said team spokesman Mike Rosensteel, who happens to be a Greensburg firefighter.

Orienteering with a compass is among the training members might undergo, an important skill whether they’re helping to battle a brush fire or to search for someone who is missing.

“With the equipment we have, we can carry water into the woods or people out of the woods,” Rosensteel said. “We can bring water right up to the scene.

Since the team usually is called into remote areas, Rosensteel said, “Communication is the biggest thing. All members have a radio so we can talk directly to each other.”

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Support Local Journalism and help us continue covering the stories that matter to you and your community.

TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.

© 2022 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved

Send Letter to the Editor

TribLIVE App - App Store

TribLIVE App - Google Play