By Ken Robinson
FireRescue1 Associate Editor
HAMILTON, Ohio — Swiftwater rescue training that seriously injured two Ohio firefighters should have been called off after major safety violations, investigators found.
The Hamilton Fire Department was conducting annual river rescue recertification and firefighters were practicing maneuvering directly downstream from a low-head dam on April 17, 2007, when firefighters Chris Gabbard and John Hansbauer suffered serious injuries.
The firefighters were practicing a two-boat tether maneuver technique when both boats crossed the boil line in succession, sending the victims’ boat crashing into the dam, a NIOSH report released Thursday said.
Both firefighters underwent several months of rehabilitation, and Firefighter Hansbauer has been unable to return to active firefighting due to the extent of his injuries.
The training evolution should have been called off when the first boat became too close to the boil line and entered the dam’s backwash, investigators said.
“Additional personnel should assist the incident commander or training instructor in determining when to call off the training attempt if any major safety violations are observed,” the report said.
Several firefighters interviewed after the incident said they felt they were operating too close to the boil line.
The boats were also roped too closely together at an estimated 75 to 100 feet, the report said.
“This distance was inadequate to allow the secondary boat to react and pull the rescue boat from past the boil line,” the report said. “The secondary boat needs the extra distance of tether to be able to peel-out (quickly executing a power turn downstream) and power the rescue boat to safety.”
NIOSH recommends departments maintain at least 100 feet of tether between rescue boats, with longer tether lines as flow volume increases.
The two-boat tether rescue technique itself may need to be re-evaluated by fire service training organizations, the report said, “with respect to the forces required to overcome the strength of the hydraulic energy exerted on a trapped victim and/or rescue boat.”
The report also recommends re-evaluating directives to maneuver the primary rescue boat as close to the boil line as possible.
To further reduce risk, investigators also recommend preplanning responses to low-head dams in coverage areas, and consider lower risk shore-based rescue techniques when conducting risk versus gain analysis in swiftwater responses.
Fire departments should also have a swiftwater rescue rapid intervention team ready as a backup for both training and actual events, investigators recommended.
“If fire departments do not have the manpower or funds for a second crew they should consider training and responding with other mutual aid departments,” the report said.