A close-call flood rescue situation in 2007 opened the eyes of some emergency responders. Now, the Anderson County Water Rescue Team is more prepared than ever to face these dangers head-on. ONE INSTANCE during the 2007 floods highlighted the need for training: “ABOUT everything we did that day was wrong,” Grimes said with a chuckle, noting the women were lucky they got out of the water safely. THE VOLUNTEERS are hosting a spaghetti feed in Garnett on Jan. 26 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Garnett Fire Station. They will have some of their equipment on display and the public will be able to learn first-hand how they rescue people from the water. Free-will donations will be accepted.
Marvin Grimes, the emergency management director in Anderson County, said before the volunteers were not fully equipped or trained to safely handle water rescues.
“We didn’t have anything set up,” Grimes said. “We would get a call and we would respond, but it is nice to know what you are doing.”
Volunteer Paul Stephens said training is essential for the safety of the volunteers, as well as the people they are rescuing.
Grimes said two women had been stranded in floodwaters while driving near one of Anderson County’s many low-area road crossings. The rescue team responded, to find the vehicle nearly a quarter mile off of the road.
“They were pretty far out there, sitting on top of their car,” Stephens said.
The team’s boat had “broken down” when they tried to get it started, from there they attempted to get a jet ski out to the women. But, the low water levels plugged the intake jet and stalled the makeshift rescue vehicle.
“It was pretty hairy,” Grimes said. “That’s when I put a call out for anyone with a boat.”
Several boats were taken to the scene. They were able to maneuver through the fast moving water, close enough to throw ropes to the stranded women. At this point, only three inches of the car were showing above the water — the women were running out of time.
The volunteers managed to get the ropes to the victims, where they were pulled to safety.
“They were very lucky, it was a scary situation,” Stephens said.
The 2007 flood in southeast Kansas dumped approximately 27.5 inches of rainwater over three days in Anderson County — multiple water rescues were made in the area. The rescue took almost three hours.
While members of the volunteer fire departments have responded to water rescue situations in the past, it wasn’t until June of 2012 when the volunteers received specific training to tackle the situations.
The county paid for 14 volunteers to be trained in swift water rescue training in June. The training was at the Cedar Valley Reservoir near Garnett — the classes were provided through the University of Kansas and took nearly three days to complete.
With their new training, both Stephens and Grimes said they will be more prepared for similar situations in the future. In addition to swift water training, seven volunteers in Anderson County are trained in SCUBA as well.
Responsibilities are wide-ranging for the trained individuals — they listed everything from car retrievals from lakes, body retrievals and capsized boats.
Paula Decker, Maralee Bouman and Kim Martin were the first three women to complete KU’s swift water training class. All of the team members are volunteers — Anderson County’s emergency responders, including fire and water rescue teams, are all volunteers. There are 14 people currently trained for water rescue, they attend monthly meetings which include training sessions.
There are eight departments in the county, seven of which have at least one representative of the water rescue teams. The trained rescuers will be rotating to the different departments to instruct other volunteers on ground operation protocols during water rescue.
With their current training, the volunteers have extensive knowledge in rope use, knots, swim-rescues and many other skills. When asked why they volunteer their time, Stephens replied, “somebody has to, and we enjoy helping other people.”
Water rescue trained and ready
