Sunday, May 5, 2024
LIFELINE: Instructor Joe Ringnald pretends to be a swimmer in need of rescue as Kalob Patino throws him a rope bag while colleague Forrest Lohman drives the boat. Another instructor, Wesley Meyer, is pictured on a boat in the background. COURTESY: Rescue Training International
LIFESAVERS: Members of the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department’s special operations team posed for a picture at the site of their recent swift water rescue training on the Trinity River. Pictured from left to right are Freeman Hawker, Forrest Lohman, Diego Guerrero, Kalob Patino, and Anthony Fazio. COURTESY: Granbury Volunteer Fire Department
TEAM EFFORT: Kalob Patino tows a basket containing “victim” Anthony Fazio and his "rescuer," instructor Melissa Ringler. COURTESY: Rescue Training International
READY FOR ACTION: Rescue Training International instructor Wesley Meyer stands in the Trinity River as he gives instructions to members of the Granbury VFD’s special operations team. Those on the boat are Kalob Patino, left, and Anthony Fazio. Behind Patino is Freeman Hawker and further in the background, barely visible, is Diego Guerrero. COURTESY: Rescue Training International
For Anthony Fazio, a member of the Granbury Volunteer Fire Department’s special operations team, the recent drive home from Dallas with some of his colleagues held a bit of irony.
Fazio and four other members of the special operations team had just spent their weekend undergoing swift water rescue training on the Trinity River. They headed home to a county that was under a flash flood watch.
Perilous situations involving water are always a possibility in Hood County, and not just because of occasional flash flooding. Lake Granbury and the Brazos River, used by many locals and tourists for recreation, can pose dangers.
Hood County benefits by having first responders who are brave enough, skilled enough and caring enough to place themselves in danger in order to save others.
Last month, Fazio and fellow team members Diego Guerrero, Freeman Hawker, Forrest Lohman, and Kalob Patino successfully completed Flood and Swift Water (FAST) boat training and FAST personal watercraft training taught by New Braunfels-based Rescue Training International instructors Wesley Meyer, Camille Meyer, Joe Ringnald and Melissa Ringler.
The weekend involved classroom instruction as well as “real-world scenario” experiences on the Trinity River. According to Fazio, the group spent all day that Sunday on the water.
The volunteer first responders took turns playing different roles so that they can each handle any task involved in a water rescue team effort.
For example, the men took turns jumping into the fast-moving current as part of a training exercise for rescuing someone in the water.
Fazio said that the group participated in FAST I technical training on Lake Granbury last year and each team member is certified on “the swimming aspect” of rescue and recovery operations.
He said they were required to complete that training before being allowed to participate in the river exercises.
The training on the Trinity River involved learning a different set of skills and was “quite a bit more challenging,” but not particularly scary, Fazio said.
“We did a lot of pre-discussion on safety and setting up,” he stated.
The team members wore PPE — Personal Protective Equipment — including life jackets, helmets, gloves and wet suits.
The GVFD team were the only first responders from Hood County to take part in the training, but there were a few other participants. Fazio said that several class members from Parker County and one from the Austin area were becoming certified as instructors.
Training by the GVFD special operations team has included water rescues involving vehicles that are submerged or are floating.
Last December, four team members rescued two young men, ages 17 and 22, after their canoe capsized on Lake Granbury.
According to authorities, the men were rescued around 2 a.m. after a nearby resident heard their pleas for help and called 911.
Fazio said that there are 17 members of the GVFD’s special operations team. The group focuses on boat/swiftwater rescues and ropes assistance. Ropes involve high angle rescues.
The members come from different backgrounds but all work well together, he stated.
“Nobody assumes that they’re better or worse than anybody else,” Fazio said. “We all participate the same.”
