Water Rescue
Date:
10/03/2009 (Last updated: 10/05/2009)Summary:
On Saturday October 3, 2009 at 1:39 am Yuma Fire Department personnel responded to the East Main Canal and 8th Street regarding a person in the canal, possibly drowning.Contact:
Public Safety dispatchers had received a 9-1-1 call from someone who heard sounds of someone gasping for air in the canal. Dispatchers kept the original caller on the line to help guide the responding units.
YFD firefighters were on the scene within 4 minutes and located a 34 year old male in the middle of the canal and clinging to the 8th Street bridge. The water under the bridge at that location was 8 to 10 feet deep.
A member of YFD’s Technical Rescue Team dressed in swift-water rescue gear and entered the water minutes later, quickly reaching the victim and bringing him to shore. The time that had elapsed from the original alarm at the station was approximately 8 minutes.
The victim was initially conscious and able to talk, but very cold and unable to walk. YFD Paramedics began treating the victim and he was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center by Rural Metro ambulance for treatment of apparent hypothermia.
It is not known how long he had been in the water. The victim did report he had been pushed into the canal and the Yuma Police Department was investigating those circumstances.
