On a
recent Saturday morning, five men walked out on ice-covered Muskegon Lake in
Michigan for a little ice fishing. But they faced a real catch! Around noon,
they noticed changes in the ice and headed back to shore. Two of them fell
through the melting ice. When they called 911, they were told to stay in place
until help arrived.
Fortunately,
that help arrived in the form of North Muskegon Fire Department’s Neoteric rescue
hovercraft and their highly trained first responders, who have been using the
hovercraft for ice and water rescues for three decades.
Even
though the U.S. Coast Guard also responded to this emergency, the USCG usually
responds to ice rescues with a team of four who go out on the ice on foot –
while the North Muskegon Fire Department’s hovercraft safely speeds upwards of
60 mph across solid or broken ice, keeping first responders above the danger,
not in it.
Ice
fishermen flock to the frozen waters of Muskegon Lake during winter. And yes, the
Muskegon first responders advise, it may be time to “consider the ice fishing
season over,” and “time to break out the boats” – but a hovercraft is equally
critical as a water rescue tool as it is an ice rescue tool.
The North
Muskegon Fire Department recognized that early on, and became a pioneer in
using hovercraft for ice and water rescue operations. “Our hovercraft have
saved more lives than 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,” says Fire Chief Steve Lague.
Fire
Departments: See how a hovercraft can dramatically improve
your
ice, water, mud and flood rescue operations:
Take
a Test
Flight or a Training
Course on a Neoteric hovercraft -
