Photo courtesy of Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office Several Keweenaw County agencies were joined by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Michigan DNR for ice rescue training exercises on Lac La Belle April 17.

KEWEENAW COUNTY – Last Friday, the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office participated in a joint ice rescue training exercise in Lac La Belle, along with the Lac La Belle Volunteer Fire Department, Keweenaw Search & Rescue, the U.S Coast Guard Station Portage, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala said the exercises are valuable for training various agencies to ensure a coordinated, efficient response in the shortest possible time.

“What we’re looking at is ice conditions we may be dealing with when we go out, and also what happens when someone goes through the ice, like how we coordinate that response,” he said.

Pennala said each of the agencies brings their own unique experience, equipment and expertise to the exercises, as each agency has performed different tasks.

“So, basically, what we want do to is try to strengthen communication and teamwork between responding agencies, because when a call does come in, it’s going to be multiple agencies responding to that call,” he said. “so, (we are) just making sure that we’re coordinating, and we’re all on the same page.”

Conducting the trainings in the spring is intentional, as the teams face several types of ice conditions in one location. Pennala said the ice on Lac La Belle ranged between 10 inches in some areas to as little as an inch.

“You’d be walking along the ice and then all of a sudden, you’d fall through,” he said. “So, just having the ability to put that scenario in place, then figure out how we’re going to get those people out without getting anybody else in trouble or injured themselves.”

During the annual training exercises, Pennala said there are different scenarios the response teams work though, but most of them focus on one or two people having fallen through the ice. The training then focuses on how to safely use rescue equipment to get to the victims and the safest, quickest ways to rescue them.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducts frequent and extensive rescue training on waterways, said Pennala, so they are requested to coordinate and conduct the ice rescue training.

Pennala said it is common for someone to attempt the rescue of another who is in distress, and subsequently they both drown. There is a good lesson to be learned from the training, he said. “The message becomes — If you see somebody in trouble, call 9-1-1. Don’t attempt a rescue yourself. I mean, leave it to the people who have the gear and the training to respond, because the problem is it leads to more victims.”