 Rescue
Squad Responds to Possible Drowning (Pierre, SD) - On Saturday afternoon, May 4, 2002 the
Pierre Fire Department Rescue Squad responded to a 911 call indicating someone
had fallen in the water at West Bend Recreation Area. Repeated calls to the originating number – an out of state
cell phone – indicated the cell phone was unavailable. The Rescue Squad and Dive Team were dispatched to the
remote area that is about 30 minutes away. An area Game, Fish and Parks officer
was also dispatched but he was about the same distance away. The first arriving fire department officer found that
others in the area had rescued the man from the water that was about 40 degrees
(F). He had been taken to a van
belonging to someone in the fishing party and was being warmed as quickly as
possible. The man was not wearing a Personal Flotation Device (life
jacket) when he fell from the boat. Due
to hypothermia caused by the cold water the man was quickly rendered unable to
help himself. A witness reported
that the man was floating face down in the water.
The man’s quick-thinking 13 year old nephew reached out of the boat and
held the man’s head above water until others, summoned from a nearby boat,
were able to help lift him from the water. After determining the person was safely on shore, fire
department personnel called off the other inbound units. The Rescue Squad reminds all boaters to wear their personal flotation devices (life vests) at all times particularly when the boat is being maneuvered. Everyone in the boat should be properly seated when underway. Pierre is the capitol city of South Dakota with a population of about 13,000 people and operates entirely with a volunteer fire department. The Rescue Squad is a sub-group of the fire department and includes personnel who already serve on a home engine or ladder company.
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