Courtesy photo Members of the Delta County Search and Rescue team practice a rescue technique.

GLADSTONE — The Delta County Search and Rescue team spent the past Saturday training and preparing should they be called to duty this winter.

Certified instructor and firefighter at both the Gladstone Volunteer Fire Department and Ensign Township Fire Department, Craig Lancour, said the training is an excellent opportunity to prepare and get acquainted with fellow volunteers/team members. 95% of the Delta County Search and Rescue team is made up of volunteers.

“We train together as a group as much as possible. The training session on Saturday was a refresher and a certification for some new members, but a refresher for existing team members. It’s just a unified training to get all the people together and get face-time and intermix skills and abilities so that when we do have an incident, you aren’t a complete stranger to the person you’re responding with or who is in the water with you,” Lancour explained.

This particular type of training is vital to the area, as last winter alone saw nine calls for assistance with 17 individuals in need of help.

“It was by far the busiest ice rescue season I’ve been involved in 20 years,” Lancour said.

The training is detailed, intensive, and involved as rescuers plunge into the chilly water.

He said the training focuses on self-rescue, single-rescue, multiple-rescue, and a specially-craft rescue. According to Lancour, rescuers must know how to save themselves before attempting to save others, making the first drill the most important.

“If and when the rescuer falls through the ice and into the frigid waters, we know how to rescue ourselves, how to survive. That’s the very first, most important basic skill,” he said.

After mastering self-rescue, team members hone their skills at individual rescue. Lancour explained rescuers establish an ice anchor and deploy a rescue rope for themselves and the person they are attempting to save. The drill covers the protocol for rescuing a conscious individual as well as an unconscious person.

Next, rescuers attempt the same drill but with additional victims in the water, simulating a multi-person rescue. The final training step involves deploying and using a Rapid Development Craft (RDC) to complete a rescue.

Lancour plans for more training sessions to come this winter, including a night training session. He said in many previous cases; the team is called out early in the morning when individuals are getting on the ice and at night when people are headed back.

He spoke about the importance of training multiple times each year, saying that if you don’t use it (the skill), you will lose it.

“The importance of doing this kind of training beyond the legality of being certified and maintaining your certification; it’s staying on top of your skills,” he said.

He added that time is key, especially in the winter when dealing with cold temperatures and the possibility of hypothermia.

The team plans to train again this Saturday in Gladstone.