©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Snowmobiles Help in Winter Rescue Efforts |
More and more Knox County firefighters and first responders are learning how to help rescue people in what can be the dead of winter.
The Knox County Snowmobile Search and Rescue team had what director Pat Hennenfent said was its largest class yet at Lake Storey Saturday, for a hands-on training session, using the seven-year-old's gear, with help from the Galesburg Hospitals Ambulance Service, on how to find and treat people who may have been in accidents in snowy and cold conditions.
Hennenfent tells WGIL what the group learned Saturday could have come in handy back last December.
"We heard just recently of the lady, I think, up by Sterling that was in a car accident and wandered off," Hennenfent said. "It would have taken us an hour to get there, but with 20 guys on snowmobiles, we can cover a lot of ground. We don't know if we could have found her, but we might have been able to."
Tanya Shannon was eventually found, but not until after the search had been called off for about a month due to cold and snowy conditions in the Ransom, Illinois area.
Attendees Saturday learned about two possible scenarios and how to deal with them: a hunter who may have fallen out of a tree stand and injured himself; then how to deal with someone thrown from a snowmobile while riding, coupled with the surprise twist of the rider's friend having a heart attach while EMT's work on the other rider.
(Officials with GHAS and the Knox County Snowmobile Search and Rescue work on a "victim" during a mock exercise Saturday; a hunter who fell out of a tree stand.)
(The Knox County Snowmobile Search and Rescue Team works to get a patient out of Lake Storey Saturday and to a waiting ambulance, during a mock exercise. WGIL News Story and Photos by Will Stevenson.) |
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