Being a city littered with canals and waterways, including parts of Lake Ponchartrain and the Mississippi River, the East Bank Consolidated portion of Jefferson Parish provides many opportunities for individuals to find themselves in trouble on the water. In order to better help these people in times of distress, the Jefferson Parish Fire Department has begun teaching its firefighters techniques needed to undertake a successful water rescue. The training, led by District Chief Umbach, is teaching firemen how to safely save someone's life during a water emergency, and it is also showing firefighters how to use new water rescue equipment which was recently placed on all fire trucks in the department. More training will be conducted during the summer in order to give firemen the chance to actually "rescue" a person. The training and new equipment will help the department to better deal with water emergencies when they occur.
4/04 The JPFD Water Rescue Course
