By Mike Morsch, Executive editor
The dreary and rainy weather wasn’t exactly pleasant for ice rescue training. But that’s OK. When disasters happen and rescue personnel are pressed into service, they’re trained to get the job done amid all kinds of obstacles., That was evident Sunday at Cranbury Lake where nine members of the Cranbury Fire Department were among 21 students in a Level 2 technician class taught by Lifeguard Systems, a water and ice rescue training team., “We practice at least annually, more when we have good ice,” said Cranbury Fire Chief Michael Kervan. “We also practice with our neighboring departments. We typically run that every three years to introduce new members to the training and learn new techniques or see and train with new equipment.”, According to Kervan, there are differences between an ice rescue and a water rescue. Each have their own challenges, equipment and techniques., “We have members who are trained in both disciplines. There are different levels of each training as well,” said Kervan. “As for the ice rescue training, there’s ‘Awareness’ level, that basically gives you the information to recognize the hazard, call appropriate resources, and take initial steps to assist with the rescue. ‘Operations’ level allows you to assist with the rescue, but you don’t go out into the water or onto the ice. Technicians are the ones who actually go out to perform the rescue. Level 2 teaches more advanced setups for rescuing multiple patients or performing rescues over longer distances.”, No one goes out expecting to fall through the ice, the chief said. But he recommended that people use common sense and avoid the danger of ice that is untested. If the green flag is up at Cranbury Lake, the ice has been checked in multiple locations for proper thickness., Cranbury Township Committeeman and public works liaison James “Jay” Taylor said that the training session was an example of “dedication and commitment” of the fire department volunteers., “Just for this one exercise they gave up Friday night, Saturday and a Sunday to train and learn. That is in addition to countless other hours spent training,” said Taylor. “The township public works does its best to monitor and measure the ice each year. The town stresses not to go on the ice unless a green flag is up and the no skating signs are down. Still we have people say to us I was just walking on it, not skating, therefore the sign did not matter.”, Naturally, township officials cannot measure the intelligence of people or even stop those intent on testing the ice, Taylor said. Nonetheless, he added, if a life-threatening situation does occur, the volunteers will be ready., “As a governing body, we really do not want our volunteers and their families to be put at risk to save someone when it could have been avoided, but we are very glad that our volunteers are willing to do it,” said Taylor., Kervan said he was pleased with how his volunteers performed during the training session. “Everyone did a great job, especially given the weather today,” he said, and added a warning: “Don’t put yourself or others in danger.”