OLDS — Olds Fire Department cadets are ready to save lives on ice and in icy water thanks to lots of help from members of the Olds Rapids Swim Club .
To that end, they recently practised ice rescues and swam relays while wearing bulky ice rescue suits during an ice rescue familiarization exercise at the pool in the Olds Aquatic Centre.
The exercise lasted for about an hour-and-a-half amid lots of giggles, laughs, shouting and cheering, especially during the relay, which generally saw cadets paired in races against Olds Rapids swimmers.
After that, cadets practised “saving” and dragging “victims” onto a big air-filled plastic boat floating in the deep end of the pool.
Olds Fire Department Deputy Chief Stephanie Bibault, who is responsible for training and support services, told the Albertan that this was the second time the event has been held during the four-year history of the cadet program.
That program is available for high school students age 16-18 interested in firefighting and emergency response.
With both first-year and second-year cadets, the program provides structured training in essential firefighting skills, teamwork, and leadership, preparing young individuals for potential careers in the fire service.
“We didn’t do it last year. We’ve only done it twice, because sometimes there aren’t people for it,” Bibault said.
“Last year there were too many fire cadets. We had 16 fire cadets, and then to have that, plus 25 Rapids, I mean, it’s just too much.”
As the program got underway, Olds Fire Department Captain Stu Didyk, who led the exercise, explained how the equipment works.
A cadet got into a big yellow suit specially designed for ice rescues.
Bibault said the department has eight such suits, which cost about $2,000 each.
“Five years ago they were probably $400 or $500 (each). Everything’s quadrupled in price,” she said.
“These are really buoyant suits,” Didyk said, adding that the air acts as an insulator to keep those wearing them warm.
However, being dressed like a Michelin Man can pose a problem when trying to rescue someone in water.
“Squeeze all that air out. Then it’s easier to move around. If you’re like a big balloon, it’s really hard to manoeuvre in water,” Didyk said.
The cadet demonstrated that technique by crouching down, wrapping his arms around himself and squeezing.
Then it was time for the relays.
“Now we know you guys are pros,” Didyk said, addressing the Olds Rapids swimmers. “So we figured we would level the playing field. We’ll pair up (a cadet versus an Olds Rapids swimmer) and we’ll do a bit of a relay race, back and forth.”
Volunteer cadets and Olds Rapids swimmers dressed up in the big suits, then jumped in the water and swam end to end in relays, amid lots of yelling, cheering and laughing.
“How were you guys’ aerodynamics,” Didyk asked some of the Rapids after they finished their relays. “You guys are used to flying through the water, right? Now you’re like a boat, you’re trying to plow like a little boat, right?”
“Did you get pretty warm in the suit,” he asked.
“Yeah,” they replied.
After that, it was time to practise rescuing people stranded on ice or in icy water.
A big long yellow and black plastic boat was quickly filled with air from an oxygen tank, then lowered into the deep end of the pool.
“They’re not going to do it in the suits this time. It’s pretty hot and they’re wet and they’re sticky now, so they’re too hard to get on, so we’ll just do this in the bathing suits,” Didyk said.
Volunteers got into the boat and water and the “rescuing” began; again amid lots of shouts and laughter.
Didyk told the rescuers the best technique to pull the victims onto the boat is by pulling underneath the armpits.
The boat has gaps at either end.
Didyk said it’s specially designed that way to make water rescue easier.
“What we don’t want to (have) happen is for the rescuer to end up being overboard, so we keep it down low. It’s easier just to pull them up,” he said.
“These are pretty resilient,” Didyk said, referring to the boat. “You can take them down rivers. You can even hook a rope or tie a motor to them, believe it or not; so if we were called to the Red Deer River we’d be able to use something like this.
“If you look at what we have here in Olds, we do have creeks and small rivers, but we also can do mutual aid, because we do get called out for mutual aid. We can do that as well.
“Summertime, we’ve got the open ponds in town (where) we could utilize this as well.”
However, Didyk said so far, the Olds Fire Department has not needed to rescue anyone anywhere using the boat.
Bibault said the OFD has had the boat, which she estimated cost $2,000 to $3,000, for at least four or five years.
“We train and train and train on it and hopefully don’t have to use it, but we do have it if we need it,” Didyk said.
“It’s really great for training,” he added. “And if we do have an incident where we’ve got multiple victims, then this comes in really handy. You don’t have to keep going back and forth, you can accommodate a few.”
Didyk was asked for his assessment of how the “rescuers” did hauling the “victims” into the boat.
“For having not a lot of material we taught, they did a really good job,” he said.
Bibault said the exercise "allowed cadets to gain practical experience in cold-water rescue techniques while fostering collaboration with the local swim team, who brought valuable water safety expertise to the session.
"Through experiences like this, the fire cadet program continues to develop the next generation of firefighters, ensuring they are well-prepared for future challenges. We are proud of our cadets' dedication and look forward to more engaging training opportunities ahead," she added.
