Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

15 firefighters with the Bartlesville Fire Department finished their swift water rescue training in Oklahoma City last Friday and are now certified to teach the techniques.

Matt Bell is a firefighter with the Tulsa Fire Department and he has worked for Mid America Rescue for three years now. MAR has put on the swift water rescue training for four years. Bell explained that MAR put Bartlesville firefighters through swift water training in OKC.

That was the third day of their training. Bell said they were in the Kayak Training Facility where they can manipulate the water to move as quickly as they want it to move. He said it is a safe environment, but it gives trainees the edge they need to operate the swift water boats in dynamic situations.

Prior to the training in OKC, the Bartlesville Fire Department trained for two days in the City of Bartlesville.

Mid America Rescue taught the 15 firefighters in the program about all the boats in their station, how to clean them and how to trouble-shoot them if they are in a tight situation. The next day, they trained on the City-owned Hudson Lake and went through multiple training scenarios on static water before their swift water training.

Bell said the MAR has been overwhelmingly busy because of the flooding event last spring. He said they are passionate about this training because they wants all firefighters to be safe on the water, because they are used to working house fires, medical calls and traffic accidents.

Water rescue incidents are what firefighters in the business call "high risk, low frequency calls," because the calls happen, but they are rare. Bell said they still want to educate firefighters on how to be safe in the water when those calls come though.

99 water rescues were made by the Bartlesville Fire Department last spring when flood waters took over Washington County and the surrounding area. The BFD has purchased a swift water rescue boat to match-up with their training efforts in Bartlesville and Oklahoma City so they can be prepared for the next flood disaster that may arise.

Fire fighters from Duncan, Norman, Oklahoma City and Edmond have also participated in the swift water training within the past week. Arkansas City, Kansas and Manhattan, Kansas have also sent firefighters to train in swift waters in OKC recently.

Bell said they really get dedicated men and women who come in from Oklahoma and Kansas participating in the Mid America Rescue programs. The Oklahoma Task Force and the Kansas Task Forces (2 through 5) have also participated in the training.

Explaining what the trainees do in the swift water course in Oklahoma City is hard to explain. Bell is confident though that if you were to ask any of the 15 Bartlesville firefighters what they went through, they would say that it was a challenge but that they walked away with a confidence and a true understanding to survive and execute what they learned in a flood disaster caused by potential high waters in the Caney River.

As a resident of Ramona, Bell said he was happy to see his neighbors to the north on Highway 75 taking part in the training. He was at the Bartlesville Fire Department on Thursday to show them photos and videos of their training in OKC last weeks.

Overall, Bell has good reports from everyone at the BFD that participated in the program about the training. He said he is very proud of Bartlesville Fire Chief John Banks and City Manager Mike Bailey for getting the funds so those 15 that participated in the training could get the training they need.

When someone in Bell's family is in a dangerous, high water situtation in Washington County, he trusts that the brave firefighters at the BFD will get the job done because they now have the training they need.

(Photo courtesy: Matt Bell, Mid America Rescue)