Two pulled to safety in swift water rescue

nospam@example.com (admin) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:15:18 -0400

By TOM HARRIS
KVUE News

Travis County STAR Flight crew members rescued two men from raging flood waters after they got a little too close to the Lampasas River. [SEE VIDEO]

It happened just after 10 a.m. Monday morning near the town of Adamsville.

The Lampasas Fire Department called STAR Flight and told them that they had two men trapped in the back of a pickup in rising flood waters and had no way to get to them. They needed a helicopter to help.

STAR Flight responded and plucked the men from the river.

"The first thing you do is look at them and make sure that they don't have any injuries," said STARFlight nurse Howard Polden. "In the case of these two gentleman neither one of them spoke any English. I don't speak any Spanish, so I just showed them what I was going to do and I kind of pointed and it worked out just fine."

Polden says it took just a few minutes to bring both victims up to the helicopter and to safety.

STAR FLight paramedic Stephen Maier says there is very little chance of anyone falling into the water. "The device frictions down on itself and prevents him from sliding out. Even if the victim lifts his arm, he can't slide out of the device," Maier said.

Texas leads the nation when it comes to flood-related deaths. Most of these occur in vehicles when people try to go through low water crossings. Polden says many deaths are preventable.

"The majority of these incidents are caused because people drive through barriers. They put themselves in situations in low water crossings, and that is unfortunately what these gentlemen did," Polden said.

This was the first STAR Flight air rescue of a flood victim this year.

Rope Rescue Equipment Source - Swift Water Rescue

Two pulled to safety in swift water rescue