OCEAN CITY, Md. - The Ocean City Fire Department and the Maryland Natural Resources Police came together to participate in a water rescue exercise at the Ocean City Inlet to prepare for the upcoming summer season.
Training began at 9 a.m. Monday morning, at the Ocean City Inlet, an area that the fire department calls one of the most challenging areas.
Firefighters say they've already had to make multiple rescues this season, making training like this even more important.Â
The exercises consisted of rescue swimmers deploying into the inlet, boat-to-swimmer operations, rescue swimmer pickups and recoveries, multi-agency coordination on the water, and training evolutions near the Jetty Rocks.
Members of the Ocean City Fire Department stressed just how important it was to complete this training ahead of the summer season, therefore avoiding the first interaction with inlet conditions being in the middle of a rescue situation.
Firefighters such as Ryan Whittington with the Ocean City Fire Department say that with ever-changing conditions and oftentimes the deceiving appearance of the conditions are just part of what makes it so dangerous.
"Sometimes folks may fall off the rocks, whether fishing, children may slip and fall, vessels may overturn, and they get pushed out into the inlet," says Whittington. "Today it may look pretty calm, but the undercurrent, underneath of this at the Inlet lot, is very, very strong. It takes proficient swimmers to be able to perfect that skill."
Whittington notes that adding high boat traffic with commercial fishing boats frequently coming in and out of the inlet makes rescues even more dangerous, as that traffic can make it hard to spot those in need of help.
However, partnering with both federal and state agencies throughout the year, such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maryland Natural Resources Police, allows them to better prepare for those emergency situations.
Georgia Speier, Firefighter and Paramedic with the Ocean City Fire Department, says things can get dangerous very quickly.
"We have already had some rescues going on in the Ocean and actually around the Inlet area, specifically this summer, and we're not even in our peak season yet. Even our experienced boaters with NRP they practice this all the time. They're constantly on their boats." Speier tells CoastTV.
For some visitors, like Dominic Carpenter, who used to go boating often, seeing the collaboration between first responders provides relief. Carpenter says that with the increasing number of people coming to Ocean City for the summer, that practice is even more crucial.
"Water rescue, to me, that's very important," Carpenter says. "The increase in numbers raises the probability of something going wrong, and the necessity for something like that. You take 10 percent of 1,000, you're 100 people out there."
Ocean City Beach Patrol tells CoastTV that they will begin guarding the beaches on Saturday, May 23. Guards will be active from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until the third Sunday of September.
As summer crowds surge and the tides grow stronger, Ocean City’s first responders are training today to save lives when seconds matter most.
