Fire Department Training

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – First Responders encounter a wide range of emergency scenarios, which makes training a key component of occupational safety.       

The Zanesville Fire Department held a training session on the canal, which gave the firefighters an opportunity to practice water rescue maneuvers and test their gear while experiencing frigid conditions. 

“Well, we always like to say that we like to train in such as a real emergency,” Zanesville Fire Department Lieutenant Trent Abrams said. “So if we stay out here, keep our skills brushed up, continue to maintain, testing all of our equipment, our suits, ropes, that sort of thing, we’ll make sure that everything’s still up to date, everything’s good. So that when we do get into those emergency situations, it’s not a panic set in, that we know exactly what to do, when to do it and who’s going to do it.”  

The uninsulated wetsuits were tested to ensure they are watertight and provided the firefighters with the experience of what they will feel and how they will maneuver during an emergency response.

“They’re practicing different maneuvers. And of course, we always still practice safety. So everybody, including the rescuers and the so-called victims are on ropelines, taglines, so that everybody is ensuring the utmost safety. However, we’re practicing some of the different ways, maneuvers to get guys out and you’ll see some of the different equipment, maybe backboards, ladders and such in different ways, throw devices and things to get those guys out of the water,” Abrams said. 

The Zanesville Fire Department is a 24/7 operation that is contracted to provide their mutual aid to smaller area departments, which allows them to provide another layer of safety to their volunteer counterparts.