Last week I had the pleasure to visit our training partner Lifesaving Resources as they conducted their Ice Rescue Train The Trainer Academy at the Boston University Sargent Center for Outdoors Education about 45 miles outside of Manchester, NH. They bring together ice rescue emergency personnel from all over the United States and Canada to train them to become instructors for their agencies. Its an intensive 3 day program and the leader Gerry Dworkin runs a very tight ship.

In a few of my recent posts on ice rescue you can see some of what these students learn in real life situations. But what it doesn’t show you is the amount of training it takes to make someone an ice rescue professional. It is not a task for the faint of heart.

Once we were out to the ice on a nearby lake the guys were put through their paces. Watching them is incredibly inspiring. It is a physically taxing challenge and after leaving the classroom they went through 5 hours of training on the ice in Ice Commander immersion suits.

Throughout the day they went through so many different types of rescues from using ladders and boogie boards to more advanced tools like the Ice Rescue platform and the Fortuna Rapid Deployment Craft. Each scenario posed its own challenges and they all seemed up to the job.

Although I was only there for 1 day, it was a great experience. I have always had the deepest respect and admiration for people who do this kind of work but never get to see it up close and personal living in a warmer climate. My respect grew a little deeper witnessing it first hand.