Have you seen the latest edition of the Cape Courier? Check out FF/EMT Mara DeGeorge’s latest article as she highlights the heroic efforts of residents on Christmas morning of 2018 as they rescued a skater who had fallen through the ice at Great Pond.
It was a clear, sunny, beautiful day, Christmas morning 2018, and Cape Elizabeth resident Tom Clarke and his twenty-three-year old son decided to go ice-skating on Great Pond. They got to the pond and laced up their skates. Another family plus a few more were out skating. The ice seemed fi rm. They were near the boat racks close to the Fenway Road trail entrance to the pond. They entered the ice from the beach and went right to skate. All seemed great, until it wasn’t.
“I saw this person skating and he looked like a good skater, I assumed he was a former high school hockey player. There was plenty of space, so people were skating separately. All of a sudden he wasn’t skating any more and we saw his arms flailing,” said Tom Clarke, of his experience.
The air temperature was below freezing, probably in the 20s and it had been cold recently. The young man was in the water so Clarke knew he needed to do something quickly. Having enjoyed Great Pond for years, he knew of the rescue fl oats that are available around town. He immediately knew where the closest fl oat was and bolted back to grab it.
Clarke shared, “It took me a few tries to throw it to him. If two people were on the ice near each other, you could see the ice spidering, so I knew we couldn’t get too close. After we pulled him out, we needed to continue to pull him along the ice a ways to clear him past the broken ice patches. Since the ice was thicker closer to shore, we had to drag him across the ice to get him to safety.”
Another bystander did his part by calling 911. Even though bystanders performed the rescue, Fire Department Engine Company and Rescue personnel were present and available when the young man was dragged to the beach area. They took off his wet clothes and brought him to the ambulance, which was parked on Fenway waiting to warm him.
According to the Rescue Team, the patient was not transported. He required a gradual warm up only. No advanced medical skills were required, nor did he exhibit any other symptoms beyond temperature concerns. Therefore, the situation was on the less severe side, but obviously more time in the water could have resulted in a very different outcome. Grace McKenzie, Advanced EMT who was on duty that day, said of her experience, “With the help of bystanders on scene and all of the Fire department members who responded from home, we were able to turn our focus away from the uncertainty of a stressful situation and toward treating the patient’s warming needs. Overall, a stressful experience provided the best possible outcome, and we owe huge credit to the fantastic response from the members of the community.” …
To read the entire article be on the lookout for the latest edition of the Cape Courier (page 7) in your mailbox this week – or visit:http://capecourier.com/archive/2019/20190326.pdf
The WETeam provides Water/Ice Rescue Buoys to residents who have large bodies of water on their property, free of charge. Below is an interactive map showing the locations throughout the Town of Cape Elizabeth where these buoys have been installed. Please note: mapped locations are approximate and do not necessarily reflect the exact location of the buoy.
For more information regarding rescue buoy and how you may obtain one for your property, please call Town Center Station at (207) 799-6409