HEARTLAND FIREFIGHTERS RESCUE WOMAN FROM STORM CHANNEL IN EL CAJON USING NEWLY DONATED SWIFT WATER RESCUE GEAR

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East County News Service

View video: https://www.facebook.com/CityOfElCajon/videos/3043747972534333 \

October 27, 2021 (El Cajon) -- The City of El Cajon and Heartland Fire & Rescue shared a video on its Facebook and Instagram accounts recounting a recent rescue by firefighters using swift water rescue equipment recently received through a grant from the Firehouse Sub Public Safety Foundation. The equipment was received just two weeks prior to the rescue

On the evening of October 4, an unusual early-October rainstorm developed in the San Diego region, bringing heavy lightning and rainfall to El Cajon. At 6:58 p.m., witnesses placed a 911 call to report that a woman was trapped in fast moving waters in the Forester Creek flood channel.  Units from Heartland Fire & Rescue, Santee Fire Department and Viejas Fire Department responded to the call. By this time, heavy rains had substantially increased the amount and speed of water flowing through the flood channel, according to the release.

The closest unit to the initial reported location was Heartland Fire & Rescue’s Squad 6. Squad 6 is a two-person fast response F-250 pickup truck, staffed with two firefighter-paramedics. Additional units were responding from further than normal due to a surge in storm-related emergency calls.

When Squad 6 Firefighter-Paramedics Louie Kinoshita and Mike McKee were unable to locate the victim at the initial dispatch location, they continued downstream, where residents flagged them down and indicated that someone was in the water.

The Firefighters grabbed their new swift water rescue equipment and scaled an 8-foot-high chain link fence separating the street from the channel. The team wrapped one end of a rescue rope around a fence post and threw the rope with a loop tied in it around the conscious victim, who was clinging to the concrete wall of the channel. Using the newly acquired equipment, they were able to pull her up to the edge of the channel, assess the victim for injuries, and wrap her in a blanket.

Additional units arrived on scene shortly after the rescue to assist. The victim was then loaded into an ambulance and transported to Sharp Memorial Hospital. Based on the victim's comments, she was swept down the channel approximately half-a-mile.

The grant, awarded by the Firehouse Sub Public Safety Foundation, provided Swift Water Personal Protective Equipment to every emergency apparatus in the fire department. The equipment included personal floatation devices, helmet, flashlights, rope bags and rescue knives. This grant allows for all crewmembers to have appropriate swift water rescue personal protective equipment and to engage close to the water’s edge and facilitate rescues.

 


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