Personnel from the Berwyn Fire Company recently completed Water Rescue and Emergency Response training. This is the second level of the water rescue curriculum offered by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC).

People and vehicles stuck in swift water or standing water have become more consistent occurrences over the past decade in the Tredyffrin-Easttown area due to increased development, poor storm water management and frequent rain events.

In order to be able to respond safely and adequately to address this type of incident, the Berwyn Fire Company has identified this as a priority for specialized training above and beyond the regular training fire/EMS responders undergo throughout the year.

This class focuses on shored based rescue techniques and also teaches class attendees self-rescue skills. The videos below will show footage from the class showing both victim and self-rescue skills being executed.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) initiated the Pennsylvania Water Rescue Program in 1983 to provide water and ice rescue training for fire and rescue department personnel. Since that time, over 35,000 students have been trained in the most current techniques. It is now the largest non-profit, public water and ice rescue training program known to exist in the United States.

You can learn more about the PFBC and its water rescue training programs by visiting their website at http://fishandboat.com/waterrescue.htm .