Tempe Fire trains to prevent drownings, treat submerged patients

TEMPE, Ariz. - What may have looked like a tragic day out at Kiwanis Lake was simply a training day for the Tempe Fire Department. 

They're working to get their crews prepared to prevent drownings for the busy summer season.

Kiwanis Park became an active scene on Wednesday morning, with Tempe Fire Department crews responding to several calls. Thankfully, those calls weren’t real.

This training involved simulating real-life scenarios.

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"So we have multiple scenarios. Adult and pediatric infant drowning scenarios. Scenarios where people have fallen in the lake when they’ve been running or had a medical emergency, or also a child has wandered away from a party and is in the lake found by a bystander," Tempe Fire Chief Kevin Bailey said.

The day began with each team getting briefed on their given scenario. Then, they headed down to the water to help their drowning victim.

"When they arrive on scene, they’ll go to the area, find the patient being treated by a civilian, and have to take over that care," Chief Bailey said.

Crews worked on performing CPR and giving oxygen before hoisting the patient up on a stretcher and wheeling him or her out of there.

Tempe Fire Chief Kevin Bailey says they have had three drowning calls since March in Tempe. None of them have been fatal, but summer usually brings with it many more of those calls.

"This is the peak drowning season in Arizona. Unfortunately, drownings do happen, but this is the high time, so we try to focus our training on this time of year, so our crews have it fresh in their minds," Chief Bailey said.

They want to do all they can to keep their patients and crews safe.

"As you can imagine, a drowning call is very stressful for our crews, so we want them to have this training fresh in their minds. We want them to have the knowledge to be successful," Chief Bailey said.