Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft set to fly at FDIC International

Neoteric is ready to go! Are you ready to join us tomorrow at FDIC Outdoor Booth 19403 to see the most versatile rescue apparatus available? Come watch a Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft in action and see why it’s the safest, quickest way to rescue water, swift water, ice, mud and flood victims.

Here are three Neoteric Hovercraft leaving our manufacturing facility this morning in Terre Haute, Indiana on their way to the 2022 FDIC International in Indianapolis …

And here’s a closer look at the newest Neoteric model, the Hovertrek II, powered exclusively by the Briggs & Stratton Vanguard BIG BLOCK 40.0 Gross HP EFI marine engine. The new engine delivers significant fuel savings, higher horsepower and less noise and vibration, without adding extra weight. You can be one of the first to closely examine the new Neoteric Hovertrek II tomorrow through Saturday at the FDIC …

You’ll also have a chance to meet some fire departments who rely on Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft. On Thursday, firefighters from Michigan’s North Muskegon Fire Department will join us. North Muskegon has relied on Neoteric Hovercraft for nearly four decades, and says “Our hovercraft have saved more lives that all our fire engines combined. Since 1985, more than 255 people have been rescued from Muskegon area lakes using the hovercraft. More than half of them would have drowned not having the hovercraft as a safe rescue tool."

North Muskegon Fire Department's Neoteric Hovercraft

Then on Saturday, come meet firefighters from Indiana’s Brownstown Fire Department. Here, the department shows how easily their Neoteric Hovercraft flies from water to land …

And here we are this evening at our FDIC Outdoor Booth 19403, ready to welcome you tomorrow and answer all your questions about rescue hovercraft …

In his inspiring speech today at the FDIC International Opening Ceremony, FDIC Education Director Bobby Halton said, “We are living in very serious times; some say we are going through hard times. Amid these hard times, there is a robust and spirited tactical debate happening in the fire service. It surrounds the needs of victims, their rescue, firefighter safety, and operations.”

 We hope you’ll visit us at the FDIC to see that this is exactly what Neoteric Hovercraft are all about: increasing firefighter and victim safety and improving rescue operations.

Learn more about Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ...

Attention: First Responders attending #FDIC2022

Does your department still depend on ropes, boats, divers, etc. for water, ice and mud and snow rescues? If so, you’ll definitely want to come to FDIC Outdoor Demo Booth 19403 this Thursday through Saturday to experience a Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft in action and see first-hand how it will vastly improve the safety, ease, speed and success of your rescue operations.

Flat bottom Jon boats and other propeller-driven watercraft are of questionable use in shallow water, swift water, flood, ice and mud rescues; they can pose a serious danger to you and to the lives you’re tasked to save. But a Neoteric hovercraft flies 9 inches above any surface, keeping you above the danger – not in it. It quickly takes you into areas where no other vehicle can go, and it’s the only hovercraft with the ability to brake, back up, and fly in reverse – critical capacities in rescue operations.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what just one of your fellow fire departments has to say about their Neoteric rescue hovercraft …

Neoteric is once again honored to be the only hovercraft exhibitor at the Fire Department Instructors Conference. That isn’t surprising, since Neoteric is the world’s original light hovercraft manufacturer, in business for more than 60 years, with customers in 50+ nations around the world.

Just as FDIC International is a one-of-a-kind experience, so will be your visit to Neoteric Hovercraft Outdoor Demo Booth 19403 this Thursday through Saturday at the FDIC. Don’t miss this chance to learn what a Neoteric Hovercraft can do for you – and to meet Neoteric Hovercraft Founder/President Chris Fitzgerald in person. You’ll never meet anyone who knows more about rescue hovercraft, and he’s eager to answer all your questions!

Learn more about Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ...

"Perilous rescue shows need for hovercraft, firefighters say"

The article below from the Bellevue Leader in Nebraska is worth attention from fire departments everywhere.

The city of Bellevue and surrounding areas have dealt with extreme flooding multiple times in the last decade. And those areas are not alone. The fastest growing and most costly natural disaster is devastating floods. The National Weather Service, which has kept records for 124 years, reports that there has never been a wetter 12 months than the period that recently ended. And every reporting agency predicts, “The frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events are projected to continue to increase over the 21^st century."

The Bellevue article shows that 'where there's a will, there's a way' and may help your department prepare for faster, safer and more frequent flood, ice and water rescues. And, with a hovercraft, you'll never have to worry about damage to propellers or to traditional rescue boats. As our customers report ... 

 "The hovercraft gets us into areas that before we weren't able to reach, areas that our jet boat can't get into because we ingest debris into the impeller." ~ Central Fraser Valley Search & Rescue Society, Canada

“It’s awesome being able to operate in deep and shallow flood water without having to worry about destroying a motor or a boat.” ~ Council Bluffs Fire Department, Iowa

“Regardless of the weather, our hovercraft can fly over water, ice, mud, sand, grass or wetlands, allowing us to get to those places you can’t reach either by boat or by foot. It can save people under the most difficult conditions that prevent the use of a helicopter.” ~ WOPR, Poland 

“The benefit of having the hovercraft is we do not have to send our personnel into the water to retrieve victims. It can also hover over logs, car tires and any other debris, unlike boats, that could be a hazard in the water. A hovercraft is the answer to a faster rescue – a safer rescue.” ~ Mansfield Fire Department, Texas

Perilous rescue shows need for hovercraft, firefighters say

By Eugene Curtin Associate Editor

Mar 27, 2019

“The craft the Bellevue Fire Department hopes to buy is a six-passenger Hovertrek Rescue Deluxe offered by Neoteric Hovercraft of Terre Haute, Indiana.”

The sight of firefighters trying to rescue a flood-stranded resident in a paddle boat was just too much for members of the Bellevue Fire Department.

“We were contacted,” said Bonnie Knutson, president of the nonprofit Bellevue Public Safety Foundation. “We sent it out to the board and the board said, ‘Yep, let’s do it.’” She said the board agreed to help raise the money to purchase and fully equip a hovercraft that can be used to rescue persons stranded in floods or icy rivers and streams.

The Bellevue Fire Department hopes to buy a six-person hovercraft similar to the one pictured above, which belongs to the Council Bluffs Fire Department and was on display March 20 at Bellevue’s District 1 fire station.
Photo by Eugene Curtin

The foundation was contacted after two firefighters paddled to the rescue of an 85-year-old man in the Sands Trailer Park south of LaPlatte.

Firefighter George Lee, one of the two firefighters, said they responded to a 911 call from a man who ignored orders to evacuate and decided to ride the flood out. When they arrived on the scene, Lee said, a civilian let them borrow a paddle boat and oars, and out they paddled. Lee said the rescue took about 25 minutes.

Bellevue Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Gibilisco, who is also a board member of the Bellevue Public Safety Foundation, said during a March 20 press conference at the District 1 fire station that firefighters should not have to risk their lives in such flimsy equipment.

“The only thing they had was a private person’s paddle boat and a couple of oars,” Gibilisco said. He said the department’s flat-bottomed boats are suitable for river rescues where the water is deep and outboard engines can function without getting stuck in a river bed, but they cannot be deployed in the shallow waters of a typical flood.

“Right now we don’t have a feasible means to do that,” he said. “With those hovercraft we believe that we will.” Gibilisco said the hovercraft will be made available for water rescue missions around the region and would not be restricted to Bellevue.

Justin James, Chief of the Council Bluffs Fire Department, traveled to Bellevue with his department’s hovercraft in tow. The hovercraft is very similar to the one Bellevue hopes to purchase.

James said Council Bluffs bought its hovercraft some years ago after losing a resident during an ice rescue where hovercraft response might have made a difference.

The craft the Bellevue Fire Department hopes to buy is a six-passenger Hovertrek Rescue Deluxe offered by Neoteric Hovercraft of Terre Haute, Indiana.

Knutson said the Bellevue Public Safety Foundation has kicked off the campaign with a $5,000 donation and will donate the proceeds of Friday’s Supper fundraiser to be held 5 to 8 p.m. at the Bellevue Firefighters Hall, 2108 Franklin St.

##

Read what your fellow first responders say about

Neoteric Hovercraft in flood rescues ...

and

Learn more about Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ...

Hurricane Harvey: Hovercraft built in Terre Haute at work in Texas

Terre Haute Tribune-Star

September 2, 2017

By Howard Greninger

Fire chief: Hovercraft are ‘perfect tool for this kind of situation’

An amphibious craft built in Terre Haute is helping to rescue flood victims of Hurricane Harvey in parts of Texas.

           

Mansfield Fire-Rescue, located near Dallas, was deployed Wednesday to Port Arthur, just south of Beaumont, Texas, to use a Neoteric Hovercraft.

“We have made over 40 rescues with the hovercraft in the Mansfield incorporated area since we got the hovercraft about four years ago and, since Wednesday, have made 15 to 20 rescues in the Port Arthur area,” said Mansfield Battalion Chief Jeff Smith.

It’s the first statewide deployment for Mansfield Fire-Rescue, located about 316 miles from Port Arthur, Smith said.

Chris Fitzgerald, president of Neoteric Hovercraft Inc., stands next to a hovercraft
his company is making for the Indonesian Police Force. Photo: Tribune-Star/Austen Leake

      

The department initially deployed four firefighters on Aug. 24 to serve in ambulance crews to evacuate hospitals and nursing homes in Corpus Christi, about 395 miles away, and in Victoria, about 278 miles from Mansfield, Smith said.

           

When flooding hammered Port Arthur, three swift water rescue technicians from the department took the call for aid to Port Arthur.

           

“I talked to the guys there and they said most of the rescue crews have flat bottom boats with propellers. But when you get into 2 feet of water, most people being rescued had to walk 100 to 200 yards to dry land,” Smith said.

           

“In the hovercraft, we can go right up to their door, get them out and take them up onto dry land,” he said.

           

“It is the perfect tool for urban flooding, as you can go from grass to mud to water to dry streets without any problem,” Smith said. “Most of the flooding we deal with is street flooding from creeks and rivers. A hovercraft doesn’t make a wake, so it is the perfect tool for this kind of situation. It makes a rescue faster and easier.”

A hovercraft is an amphibious vehicle that is supported by a cushion of slightly pressurized air and is capable of traveling over land, water, mud, ice and other surfaces. Hovercraft float on a cushion of air that has been forced under the craft by a fan. This causes the craft to rise or lift. The amount of lift can range from 6 inches to 108 inches, according to Neoteric Hovercraft, Inc.

           

Smith said Mansfield Fire-Rescue bought the hovercraft in Terre Haute about four years ago and underwent training at the Terre Haute firm. The driver, or pilot, then undergoes another 10 hours of “flight time” to be certified to operate the hovercraft by the department, Smith said.

           

Another agency — Somervell County Volunteer Fire Department, in Glen Rose Texas — saw the hovercraft in action and decided to buy one, Smith said. Mansfield and Somervell County each manned hovercrafts for rescues from Hurricane Harvey, Smith said.

           

“Those fire departments have been using our craft for quite a long time,” said Chris Fitzgerald, president of Neoteric Hovercraft Inc., a company that moved its manufacturing and offices to Terre Haute in 1976.

           

“The real tragedy is there should be thousands of hovercraft for these rescues. They can do so much more than other vehicles and fill the gap in amphibious transport, as hovercraft can operate in fast-flowing water, in water full of debris or in shallow water, places where boats have a problem,” Fitzgerald said.

           

Fitzgerald said he knew the Texas fire departments were gearing up as the departments last week began asking for technical support or spare parts for hovercraft.

           

“All of those are our craft. It is difficult to get excited as we have been in these situations for many years. Even when Katrina hit, we had craft operating and in a mud slide in Oregon a few years ago,” he said. “We are sorry to see these tragedies, but with global warming, we will see a lot more, unfortunately.”

           

In addition to rescues, a hovercraft can also be used to collect information, Fitzgerald said, which can be used by emergency command officials.

           

Hovercraft can be used to assess impacted areas, discover what is needed, such as medications, and how many people are affected. The hovercraft can then be used to bring medicines and supplies to areas or transport those in need of evacuation or medical attention, Fitzgerald said.

Learn more about Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ...

First responders: Don't miss Neoteric at the FDIC

The FDIC (Fire Department Instructor Conference) is the world’s largest fire training-based conference and exhibition, attended by more than 35,000 firefighters, fire chiefs, officers and instructors from more than 53 nations. It’s the fire industry’s most comprehensive exhibition, showcasing more than 1,000 companies who manufacture and supply firefighting/rescue apparatus and technology.

This year, Neoteric and Hovercraft Training Centers are honored to be the only rescue hovercraft and hovercraft flight training exhibitor at the FDIC. The event will take place April 18-23 at the Lucas Oil Stadium and Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN …

The FDIC is held at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Opened in 2008,

the Stadium replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts.

As a quick preview, here are photos taken during the hand-manufacture of the two Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft that will be on display at the FDIC ...

A stretcher mount is installed on the Neoteric 4-passenger rescue hovercraft to be exhibited at the FDIC.

The skirt retention strip is installed on the Neoteric 6-passenger rescue hovercraft, also to be on exhibit.

It's only fitting that the FDIC, with its 87-year mission of training the fire service, is including Neoteric - the world's original light hovercraft manufacturer whose rescue hovercraft have been saving lives safely for more than 40 years in over 50 countries.

Visit us at Booth 2540 during this year’s FDIC and let us show you the safest, quickest way to rescue ice, water, mud and flood victims. A Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft will take you where no other vehicle can go, on the only hovercraft with reverse thrust for braking and backing up – critical in rescue operations. 

It's the most versatile rescue apparatus available. And it keeps you above the danger
 – not in it.

Learn more about Neoteric Rescue Hovercraft ...