This from Chris Ranck:
Its a little outside the area but a good winter video and might get a response locally
This from the News-Gasette:
An autopsy is scheduled today for a Champaign man who died after being in the frigid waters of a retention pond for more than an hour Tuesday before rescuers could safely get him out.
The Champaign County Coroner’s Office said Kenneth Brown Jr., 20, who listed an address in the 2000 block of Moreland Boulevard, Champaign, was pronounced dead at 1:08 a.m. Wednesday at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.
He had been taken there shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday after being rescued from a pond on the north side of Town Center Boulevard in front of Menards — the third time Tuesday that police had been called about him.
The Illinois State Water Survey reported the air temperature at 4 p.m. Tuesday was around 20 degrees.
As Officers Tim Atteberry and Doug Kimme got out to walk toward Mr. Brown, he began jogging in the Menards parking lot, then ran directly onto the iced-over pond south of the store. The sergeant responding to the domestic dispute “sees Brown on the pond and can see it’s partially frozen and can hear it cracking, so he’s calling for the Champaign Fire Department before he even falls in,” Gallo said. “Within seconds, he fell in.”
As the firefighters were suiting up and getting tethered, other team members threw out a rescue disc — “a Frisbee with a rope on it” — in hopes that Mr. Brown would grab on. He did not. As that was being tried, the rescue raft was being inflated, something that can’t be done too fast or the raft will pop like a balloon.
As the firefighters were sliding the raft out to where Mr. Brown was, he went under the water at 4:11 p.m., Mitchell said.
“As our guys got out there, they took poles and were trying to feel for him. The water was a lot deeper than they’d been told,” Mitchell said. “Originally, they were told it was waist deep and that he had been standing up. It was over 15 to 18 feet deep.
“When he went under, that’s when they dispatched Cornbelt (Fire Protection District), which is the county dive team. Their chief was there at 4:21 p.m.,” Mitchell said.
“They ended up having to dive. (Mr. Brown) was out of the water and in the ambulance at 5:09 p.m.,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said one police officer and six different firefighters were in the water before the mission was complete.
Mitchell said after reviewing the reports and seeing a YouTube video of about 10 minutes of the rescue that was posted Wednesday, he feels like his colleagues did what they were supposed to do.
The entire article with a more detailed timeline and description of events is HERE.
#1 by Scott on January 8, 2013 - 11:56 AM
I agree with Scott #2, though an aerial could have worked…it’s pretty hard to see the distances across the pond. On another note, it’s kind of tough watching this video, knowing some actions could have been initiated much sooner…potentially saving the person’s life.
#2 by Scott on January 7, 2013 - 9:55 AM
Tower ladder wouldn’t have worked (or any aerial), too far out. Video is deceiving.
And for all the water rescue experts, what is taught is “reach, throw, go”… this case the proper Water Rescue/Ice Rescue suits where worn and ready. Reach was out of the question, the throwing as all have seen wasn’t working, the “go” should have been initiated much sooner than it was. The rescuers had the proper suits, equipment and tools…. utilization of such needed to be improved.
#3 by Nick N on January 7, 2013 - 12:10 AM
I’m also wondering why a tower ladder wasn’t used in this scenario. I’m not one to usually criticize other departments, but it seems like they could have gotten this guy out of the pond way faster.
#4 by Scott on January 6, 2013 - 12:14 PM
The tower idea might work but not as common a practice. I just wonder, why is the dive team called for at the point of when the guy has gone under? Most water related incident policies already have dive equipment and other various rigs coming in on the initial…
#5 by joe doherty on January 6, 2013 - 7:49 AM
they should have got a tower ladder and extended it across the lake