Ice rescue is a special form of water rescue, due to the particularity of climate, environment, etc., ice rescue is more difficult and risky than general water rescue. Ice accidents mainly occur in the cold areas of northeast China, north China, northwest China and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. According to incomplete statistics, heilongjiang province alone had 103 ice distress accidents from November 2016 to March 2019, and 63 people and 42 vehicles were trapped in distress.
1. What is an ice accident and ice rescue?
1. Ice accident refers to an accident in which the ice surface is partially ruptured or collapsed due to the weakening or insufficient bearing capacity of the ice surface, resulting in the fall, trapping or drowning of people and vehicles, and the threat to life and property.
2. Ice rescue refers to the emergency rescue actions taken against people, vehicles, etc. that fall, are trapped, sinking and other accidents that occur on the ice surface or under the ice surface or ice flowing with a large ice layer or a certain amount of ice floes, including ice rescue and under-ice diving rescue.
2. What are the characteristics of the ice rescue accident?
1. Cold weather triggers hypothermia Usually, in cold ice water, after 5 minutes, you will lose your normal exercise ability; 10 minutes will be paralyzed, muscle spasms (cramps).
2. The thickness of the ice is difficult to judge, because the terrain under the ice, water temperature, flow rate and other factors are difficult to identify intuitively, resulting in rescuers having an accurate judgment on the thickness of the ice, which often causes rescue errors and dangerous situations.
3. Ice rescue is difficult Due to the time limit of ice rescue, rescue personnel must quickly arrive at the scene to carry out rescue. But the cold weather, wind speed, fragility and smooth ice surface all make ice rescue very difficult. Rescuers often consume valuable rescue time because it is difficult to quickly find the operating surface and quickly approach the distressed, which increases the risk of casualties of the distressed and rescuers.
4. High risk of sub-ice diving In the process of sub-ice diving rescue and salvage, divers operate in the top environment, can not directly rise to the ice surface, usually only one route in and out of the area, easy to lose direction; the cold environment has extremely high requirements for ice diving equipment, prone to equipment failure, resulting in diver casualties. In addition, due to the low temperature and rapid loss of body temperature, divers are difficult to work under the ice for a long time and are prone to hypothermia.
3. What types of ice rescue are included?
From the form of rescue, it can be roughly divided into ice rescue and ice diving rescue.
1. Ice rescue is a rescue operation such as self-rescue, stretch/throw rescue, boat rescue, wading/ice rescue and other rescue operations implemented by rescue personnel on the ice surface for ice accidents.
Photographed in China Rescue Liaoning Mobile Professional Detachment
2. Ice diving rescue is the search and rescue of people killed on the ice, the remains of the victims, vehicles, physical evidence or other items. An internationally similar concept is "public safety ice diving".
Photographed on Lake Baikal
4. What professional equipment is needed for ice rescue?
In the process of ice rescue, due to the particularity of the environment, the success of the rescue depends largely on professional equipment, and rescuers need to follow special rules of use.
(1) What are the ice rescue equipment?
1. Ice personal protective equipment generally includes ice rescue helmets, ice rescue suits, dry rescue suits, personal buoyancy floating equipment, duck shoe boards, snow non-slip shoe covers crampons, rescue knives, ice cones, throw rope bags, positioning lights and whistles.
2. Ice team rescue equipment can grasp the floating drifter, rescue skateboard, fast inflatable boat, floatable stretcher, inflatable pontoon, water lifeline, ice surface screw, safety hook (D-ring/O-ring), pulley, chisel equipment, 100m rescue rope, 360-degree double pulley, portable explosion-proof lighting, thrower, single bar ladder or telescopic ladder, medical first aid kit, handheld amplifier, telescope, blanket, etc.
(2) What are the ice diving rescue equipment?
1. Ice diving personnel personal protective equipment more than 11 liters of cylinders, spare cylinders or gas supply systems, counterweights, dry wetsuits, thermal underwear, gloves, full cover, diving vests, fins, diving lights, safety helmets, antifreeze pressure gauges, antifreeze regulators, diving safety harnesses, diving computers, depth gauges with timing devices, compasses, diving knives, etc.
2. Ice diving team rescue equipment diver communication system, large insulator equipped with hot water, warm air room, heater, snow shovel, channel water surface base station, buoyancy lifting device, submarine guidance rope.
3. Ice rescue machinery drones, helicopters, hovercraft, cranes, ice cutting machines, etc.
5. What special training is required for ice rescue?
1. Ice Rescue Theory Learning ice rescue theory includes: types and characteristics of ice, ice bearing capacity, hypothermia and drowning, diving safety and health, equipment theory, diving environment and danger, rescue scene assessment, rescue plan preparation, etc.
2. Rescue plan Formulation Training rescue plan formulation includes: providing site information and disaster accident information to participants, participants quickly reconnaissance judgment, making ice assessments, and formulating rescue plans. As far as possible, the training is carried out on site in natural waters.
3. Ice rescue training Ice rescue training includes: ice surface opening, rapid preparation and dress, ice surface detection, ice surface self-rescue, resilient rescue, throwing rescue, ice rescue board/floatable stretcher rescue, boat rescue, direct rescue, rope rescue and helicopter rescue and other training content.
4. Ice diving rescue training Ice diving rescue training includes: ice opening, rapid preparation and dress, surface equipment inspection and antifreeze, underwater equipment use and antifreeze, ice diving guidance rope setting, ice diving self-rescue and other rescue, under-ice navigation, low visibility search under ice, search and salvage of targets.
5. Team Rescue Training Ice Rescue Training is a team training subject. Its training mainly includes: the command and cooperation of the ice rescue team and the ice submarine search and rescue team, the rescue operation of the disaster situation, medical assistance, and the washing and elimination training.
Ice rescue is a type of water rescue with high danger, extensive equipment and complex technology. Therefore, we must be fully prepared in advance to train in strict accordance with the ice rescue operating procedures under the guidance of professionals to avoid casualties.