Fire departments from around the state met in New Braunfels this fall to take Garland’s annual water rescue class. More than 20 students were newly certified as Swift Water Rescue Technicians.
The Garland Fire Department began hosting these trainings for its own firefighters in 2000. Richardson first began sending some of its team members to the training, and soon other nearby cities followed suit. Wylie, Rowlett and just about every fire department in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have sent team members to this training as well.
Garland hosts its training in New Braunfels and uses the Comal River because it is relatively constant and somewhat controlled. In addition to several days training on the water, the certification training also includes some classroom time. Training class sizes typically range from about 25 to 50 participants from all over the state. Garland Fire Driver Lonnie Green estimates that more than a thousand Swift Water Rescue Technicians have come through the program over the years.
There are currently 18 Swift Water Rescue Technicians in Garland’s Fire Department, all at rescue Station 8. However, an estimated half of the Garland Fire Department has completed the class at some point since its inception. In addition to this water training, there are other requirements for becoming a Swift Water Rescue Technician, one of which is an operations-level rope rescue training.
Information and photo provided by city of Garland.