SMYRNA, Tenn. – Members from the Tennessee National Guard,
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Nashville Fire Department, Rutherford
County's StormPoint Emergency Response team and others participated in a joint
water rescue exercise April 9.
Tennessee's Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team, a joint rescue
crew with a Tennessee National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter and aircrew
with rescue personnel from the Nashville Fire Department, practiced rescuing
drowning victims in Stewarts Creek.
"It's critical that we all train together," said
Lt. Col. Jay Jackson, the military liaison for TEMA. "Doing this with
people you've never met would be dangerous during a real world emergency,
especially in hazardous conditions. That's not when we should be working together
for the first time."
During the training event, the Tennessee National Guard
helicopter crew lowered a Nashville Fire Department diver into the lake by
hoist. The diver swam to the victims, provided aid, and readied them for
rescue. Strapping the victims to the rescue strop, diver hooking themselves to
the rescue cable and hoisted out of the water into the hovering helicopter. The
crew simulated first aid as the survivors were airlifted to the nearest
hospital.
"These exercises allow us to streamline the process and
strengthen the relationships between the Tennessee National Guard and our state
and local partners," said Jackson. "It is all meant to ensure that we
are ready to respond to emergencies and protect our fellow citizens. Some of
these maneuvers can be dangerous, especially during inclement weather, and we
need to be ready."
This year's exercise included an additional element: an
unmanned aerial systems team from StormPoint Emergency Response who provided a
live feed of the training to the state operations center. Additionally, the
team completed a mission delivering life vests to the simulated drowning
victims before the HART team's arrival."Our job during this training
exercise was to provide situational awareness for the water rescue exercise,"
said Russell Bradshaw, StormPoint Emergency Response executive director.
"We were able to use the drone to locate the victims and provide
coordinates and information for the inbound rescue team."
This new capability enhances the Tennessee National Guard's ability,
along with local and state partners, to respond to numerous situations,
including difficult-to-reach accident sites and major natural disasters,
rapidly.
"This new joint capability for Tennessee not only
benefits Tennesseans in the event of a disaster but will also be a deployable
resource to neighboring states in the event of a disaster out of our
area," said Jackson.
The HART team has already completed a successful mission. In
October 2020, an injured hiker in North Carolina was successfully hoisted and
transported safely to the nearest hospital.
Shared from the US
Army
