MORGANTON - Flood response teams from Texas, Maryland, and
Georgia joined their counterparts in North Carolina for
three days of Helo-aquatic rescue training August 27-29.
The Bridge Water site on Lake James and the Upper
Catawba River were two of three locations where rescue
personnel from four states participated in a successful
operational readiness drill.
Two (2) helicopters from the North Carolina Army National
Guards 131
st Assault Battalion, based in
Salisbury, participated in this joint exercise, which
brought over forty Local, State, and Federal emergency
personnel to Western North Carolina.
Teams of swift water rescuers refreshed
their boat skills and mastered the short-haul rescue, in
which stranded victims are plucked from a flood area by
helicopter and carried to a dry, safe location nearby.
This dramatic water rescue scenario was successfully
completed from 80-foot trees on the grounds of the Western
Piedmont Community College
Campus, to the open waters of Lake James and also
under fast moving water conditions of the Upper Catawba
River.
Casey Ping, a team leader who along with a twenty person
team traveled from Texas, agrees that combined training
such as this can only help make a difference.
We get to share ideas and lessons learned said Ping.
These few days spent in Western North Carolina allowed us
to look at any problems we could have and how to make a
rescue better when that call for help is received.
The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management,
North Carolina Army National Guard, Burke County Emergency
Services, and Western Piedmont Community College are to be
commended for their continued support in partnering for
this valuable training.
