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First responders conduct water rescue training in Lake Stevens
Agencies in Snohomish County fine-tuned their water rescue skills.
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. - With the hot weather drawing more people to the water, first responders are standing by for potential rescues.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office hosted a multi-agency water rescue training at Davies Beach in Lake Stevens to prepare for the risks this season.
"We try to make our training as realistic as possible and predict scenarios and locations, and we make sure that our rescue swimmers are ready for it," said Jamal Beckham, lead of the rescue unit for Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue.
Police, firefighters, rescue swimmers and marine divers participated in the training. The first responders rehearsed different scenarios by using full-body mannequins and trained swimmers, like Beckham, pretending to be in distress.
"I was splashing my arms like crazy and yelling for help," said Beckham. "I gave [rescuers] how many people were involved and [in] my general direction, that I saw one other person. And that’s all I knew. So, they had to build the scenario from that to figure out where to go and where to search."
The rescue crews also used drones during the practice to give additional views from above.
"When you’re flying from the air, you get a different perspective. Think about when you’re on a fishing boat and you look off to the sides, sometimes the fish is right there but you can’t see it because of the glare. When you fly from above it and you look down sometimes that will eliminate that glare and allows you to see deeper into the water," said Jeremy Stocker of Snohomish County Fire Department, serving District 22.
Just over the weekend, the region’s first and hottest days of 2023, an 18-year-old man drowned at Lake Sammamish and 14-year-old boy almost drowned at Green Lake Park.
Rescue crews said training like this could not come at a more critical time.
"We’re going to be doing it like we would if this call actually came in," said Stocker.
The first responders are familiar to similar tragedies at Davies Beach. In June 2022, three boys were in the swimming area when they went under. Rescue divers said all three were unresponsive when they were pulled out of the water. Two of them died, a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old.
"Our rescue swimmers kicked into their training. And luckily we train here regularly. And some of the feedback afterwards was well, that was horrible to go on, but it was just like training," said Beckham.
With the hot temperatures warming up in the region, first responders are warning people that lakes and rivers are still dangerously cold.
"Cold water cools you off super fast and zaps your energy. So, you have to take that into consideration when you’re in the water. Especially the rivers right now, all the snow melt. They’re not even 40 degrees I don’t think. So, that is really dangerous. It can really tire you out and get you in trouble in a hurry," said Beckham.
First responders said as they used the time to train for the potential risks this season, let it also be a reminder to everyone to wear a life jacket.
"You never know what’s going to happen. You're one cramp away from getting yourself into trouble. And know your capabilities. Know your kids, family members, friends, anyone out there with them, know their capabilities," said Beckham.
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Snohomish County offers a Life Jacket Loan Program. There are life jacket loaner cabinets at various locations throughout the county, including Marysville Fire, Lake Goodwin Fire Station, Sultan Fire, Monroe Fire, Index Fire, and Dagmar’s Landing. The life jackets are available for a daily loan to kids and adults between Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day.