First responder’s protocol in emergency situations
In continuing coverage, KIFI/KIDK looked in looked into first responder protocol when faced with a search and rescue situation like the accident at Rose Pond.
Wednesday evening the family’s experience throughout the accident and the loss of their daughter was shared. On Thursday, KIFI/KIDK talked with first responders within Bonneville County to try to get a glimpse at what the responders in Bingham County may have experienced.
“Emotions get real high real fast, especially when you’re trying to protect a loved one. Some circumstances where someone has to step in a say, ‘stop and wait because it’s dangerous,’ so we don’t have more injuries or fatalities — that’s a very real possibility in the things that we think about as first responders,” Sgt. Bryan Lovell with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office said.
In the Rose Pond accident, the father dived back in the cold water multiple times to try to save his daughter trapped inside their SUV. The family told KIFI/KIDK an officer held the father back and would not let him continue diving. As a parent, it’s a devastating and helpless circumstance. As a first responder, it’s about preventing more causalities.
“Our concern is in that situation we have one victim, one patient that we have to save. We want to keep it to just one. And so if there’s a chance of a civilian trying to make a save and they’re going to become a second victim, a second patient, that makes the job harder for us,” said Cody Anderson, the battalion chief for the Idaho Falls Fire Department.
There are plenty of times where first responders have to make difficult decisions after assessing the emergency.
“When we first arrive our assessment is what kind of threat that is there. Is there currently a life to be saved? And if there is, then we’re going to do everything we can to save that life,” said Anderson.
The Rose Pond accident was an example of making a tough call, but for responders within Bonneville County — they think it was the right one to make.
“But there are times when you know that there is someone injured and it may not be safe to get to them. They may have a different perception of what it is versus the person whose been there involved in it as well,” said Lovell.
