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Home arrow Swiftwater Rescue Headlines May 2008 arrow River saftey event turns into real-life rescue
River safety event turns into real-life rescue PDF Print E-mail
GREAT FALLS, Md. - It was supposed to be a press event to promote river safety on the Potomac, but it turned into a real-life river rescue Thursday.

Every year, the swift water rescue teams from Montgomery and Fairfax county fire departments take reporters on the river in their rescue rafts to illustrate the dangers of the currents.

 

This year, the teams had to spring in action and rescue a woman whose kayak had capsized in the swift currents just below Great Falls.

 

When rescue teams plucked one woman from the ledge of some sharp rocks, she was soaking wet, barefoot and was having trouble breathing.

 

"I hit the water and I just couldn't breathe. I tried to catch my breath and I couldn't catch it. I still have my paddle. My boat was gone. My shoes were gone, but I least I had [my paddle]."

 

Joe Lawler with the U.S. National Park Service says the river may look inviting, but you have to be careful.

 

"They see what appears to be placid water, but the the river is running very fast, it's really cold and someone could get in trouble very quickly with the temperature of the water," Lawler says.

 

There hasn't been a drowning on the Potomac River gorge, which stretches from the Key Bridge up to Great Falls, in nearly four years.

 

Mark Segraves, WTOP Radio http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1408742# 

 

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