Search and Rescue takes to the water for training
<p>Sanders County Search and Rescue conduct a training session on the Clark Fork River near the fairgrounds in Plains.</p>
PLAINS- Sanders County Search and Rescue personnel were on hand in Plains on Sunday on the bridge spanning the Clark Fork River to practice a scenario involving a victim in the water. Two teams were involved, one on the banks of the river ready to retrieve the victim with the aid of a boat and the other on the bridge to drop the “victim” into the water.
The “victim” during the drill was in fact a dummy dressed to pose as a human for the sake of realism. The dummy, about four feet tall, was wearing jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt and a life jacket. The life jacket was necessary according to SAR personnel to prevent the dummy from sinking to the bottom of the river before rescuers could retrieve it from the water.
Two SAR members waited near the middle of the bridge near the fairgrounds for the rescuers to position themselves near the drop-site. When the rescuers in the boat were ready, they called the team on the bridge to let them know the dummy could be dropped.
Trinity Neverdahl supervised by Sanders County East End Director Scott Iverson picked up the dummy and heaved it over the bridge. The dummy landed in the water with a splash and quickly moved downstream demonstrating in graphic detail the strength and danger of the current.
As the SAR boat moved closer to the “victim”, Neverdahl and Iverson drove their vehicle that had been occupying the southbound lane of the bridge to the western edge of the beach near the fairgrounds. As beach-goers enjoyed the sunny weather and shallow waters of the somewhat tranquil edge of the river, Iverson and Neverdahl prepared to assist the team members in the boat.
As the dummy floated downstream, the SAR boat slowly approached before launching a crewmember with a kickboard to retrieve the “victim”. The dummy was dragged to the boat as they gradually drifted toward the beach area. Iverson and Neverdahl assisted the rescue swimmer and the crew remaining in the boat as they reached the shallow edge of the riverbank completing the training exercise.