Yesterday was quite fun (exclusive of the TWA 800 flashbacks) but draining. I participated in an ice rescue exercise in Ohio which simulated the crash of a commuter airplane into Lake Erie.
Lots of adrenaline flowing even though it was not a real emergency. Everything went pretty well other than one first responder who was injured when she slipped on the ice and fell. That was a firefighter who did not have ice cleats on. Bad move when you are try8ing to pull a heavy aluminum skiff across slippery melting ice. I was so excited to put on my drysuit and play in the cold that I left my cleats up in the building, but I took tiny little steps and wasn't pulling anything heavy.
Here are a few good pictures of the event from the Coast Guard's visual imagery database:
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| overhead shot from a Dolphin helicopter |
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| coasties waiting to be rescued |
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| amazing what you can do with a chainsaw! |
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| I know it looks like a banana, but this inflatable we call the Skiff-Ice. You blow it up with a scuba tank. |
These are all from the short haul part of the
exercise, where the rescuers walk out on the ice to recover people in distress. The ice here was not very thick, so it could not support the weight of the airboats. The long haul location was in Sandusky Bay to the south, where the ice was much thicker.
If you check out this
site, you can see more of the pictures from the sunny day near USCG Station Marblehead.
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