Why would a firefighter need Swiftwater Rescue training?
The U.S. Fire Administration has been tracking firefighter fatalities for several years. In 1998 there were 113 line-of-duty deaths in the U.S. Fire Service. Most of these were cardiac related, sustained on arrival at the scene – no fire involved. Only three were deaths in fire. Several were auto accidents while in route to the call. Seven were drownings. If you compare the number of fireground deaths per thousand calls to the number of drowning deaths per thousand water rescue calls, it becomes apparent that the average firefighters chances of drowning on a water rescue call are 400% higher than dying in a fire on the job. This can be dramatically reduced through training.
