In Guangzhou in November, the outdoor temperature was still over 20 degrees Celsius. In a suburban reservoir in Guangzhou, under water more than ten meters deep, the temperature was as low as 10 degrees Celsius.
On the shore, four members of the water rescue team of the Provincial Fire Rescue Corps' Special Service Brigade and their professional instructors were inspecting diving equipment. Underwater lighting, knives, writing pads, air bottles... After everything was ready, they put on their diving suits and equipment and jumped into the water one by one.
"Let's form a circle. Our mission today is to simulate a search, dive to about 16 meters, and start diving now." Qiu Wei is the first-level commander of the special service brigade and the captain of the water rescue team. As soon as the words fell, the five people began to dive.
"Gulu gulu", bubbles appeared on the surface of the lake. After a few seconds, the lake water was completely submerged above their heads.
The water surface is calm. Underwater, an intense simulated underwater search has just begun.
Water rescue is an important part of fire rescue, which is divided into surface and underwater rescue. Water rescue usually includes rescue in calm water, rapids rescue, floods caused by typhoons and waterlogging. Underwater rescue requires diving into the water, such as searching for trapped people in fallen vehicles, salvaging and rescuing drowning people.
From January 1 to October 1, 2019, among the types of alarms received by the province’s fire rescue teams, fire alarms accounted for 30.6%, emergency rescues accounted for 40.8%, and social assistance accounted for 28.5%. Flood prevention, flood fighting, rescue, disaster relief... firefighters face more and more severe challenges.
Today's "retrograde" is no longer limited to fire scene rescue, but also needs to deal with complex and diverse disaster accidents, truly adapting to the mission needs of "all disasters, major emergencies", and heading into waters, land, and sky.
Under the water
They overcame their fear just to save the drowning man
Longdong Reservoir, located in the northeastern suburbs of Guangzhou, is far away from the bustling city. Its clear water quality and quiet environment attract many fishing enthusiasts and tourists. The reservoir is 60 meters deep. Although there is a "no swimming" warning sign next to it, people still swim here every summer.
The surface of the water may look sparkling, but there are actually hidden dangers under the water.
In August this year, the Special Service Brigade received a call for help from a person who disappeared while swimming in Longdong Reservoir.
"The incident happened in the early morning. When we arrived at the scene, it was pitch black. We had to first use sonar to conduct search and positioning, and then use underwater robot to launch a precise search. It took more than 3 hours to confirm the exact identity of the missing person. Location." Xie Xuekang, born in 1997, is a member of the water rescue team. He introduced that in water rescue, the more difficult aspects are search and positioning. Longdong Reservoir has a large area and complex water environment. Although they made a preliminary judgment when they arrived at the scene, precise positioning still takes time.
After determining the drowning area of the drowning person, four firefighters immediately dived into the water to search and salvage.
Underwater, the deeper you dive, the lower the temperature becomes, and the biting lake water has already soaked your wetsuit. The divers adjust to the water temperature and relieve ear pressure so they can continue diving smoothly.
"It was pitch black on the water at night, let alone underwater. The water was dark and quiet. I could only hear the sound of water flow and my own breathing." This was the first time that the four people went into the water for actual rescue. Although there was water The searchlight was turned on, but the quiet and claustrophobic environment still made Xie Xuekang a little frightened. "I am somewhat afraid that the body of a drowned person will suddenly float in front of me, but rescue comes first, and we must rescue him." Xie Xuekang looked around underwater with his eyes wide open, and swam forward cautiously.
In the lake, the sand is blown up by the flippers, and the visibility is getting lower and lower. The four people could only touch it with their hands in the dark water. One minute, three minutes, and five minutes passed. They vaguely saw a human figure under the water and cautiously swam closer to confirm.
In the end, the team members found the man who fell into the water at 11 meters underwater and salvaged him ashore. At this time, 6 hours had passed since the police were called.
In underwater rescue, the most difficult thing is to locate the drowning person.
Previously, due to equipment limitations, there was no underwater sonar search equipment, and divers could only rely on divers to touch, see and pull nets underwater. Now, surface and underwater sonar can be used to search and locate targets.
After accurately locating the location of the person who fell into the water, someone on the shore and on the water needs to cooperate with the most critical link - personnel search.
On the shore, the firefighters in charge of controlling the equipment were paying close attention to the reminders of the equipment and the pictures taken by the underwater robots. On the water, several kayaks followed the divers closely and were ready to respond.
has practiced this kind of cooperation with them thousands of times. Normally, water rescue team members will go to swimming pools, reservoirs, and rivers to carry out normal underwater skills, search and salvage training.
"Not only people who can dive, but all water firefighters must learn diving equipment, physiology, and tidal river characteristics." Qiu Wei introduced that they need to conduct special skills training and practice neutral buoyancy, search and recovery. Learning and using methods and auxiliary tools, underwater communications, underwater robots and underwater full-face masks, etc.
Above the water
They crossed the rapids and tried their best to build a rescue channel
Underwater, the firefighters were "blindfolded" by the cold, dark lake water. Although the rescue environment can be clearly seen above the water, the dangers posed by rapids and floods are equally difficult to predict.
Due to persistent heavy rains in June this year, many areas in Heyuan, Lianping County, and Longchuan County were affected. A total of 13 vehicles and 42 people from the water rescue team, communications team, and support team of the Special Service Brigade took action after hearing the news.
When they arrived 16 kilometers away from Sandong Village, Shangping Town, Lianping County, Heyuan City, the deck of the only bridge entering the village had been washed away, and trees piled up around it, forming a pass.
The water flow at the site is fast and the water level is rising. In normal times, the rubber boat is the safest tool in river rescue, but the rescue conditions at that time no longer allowed firefighters to use rubber boats. What to do?
Cross the torrent!
"It was very dangerous to cross the river at that time, because we didn't know what the flood would carry with it when it washed down from the upstream. If you couldn't control your body in the flood, your legs might be caught in the cracks of the rocks, or hit by the waves. , smashing people directly onto rocks." Wang Guoyu, a member of the water rescue team, is from Jiangxi. He was born in 1998 and has only been a firefighter for three years. At that time, he was in danger and needed to swim across the water to reach the other side.
"I am relatively tall and have just learned how to dive, so I was sent to perform a live bait rescue mission." After receiving the mission, Wang Guoyu quickly put on his rescue clothing, tied a rope behind him, and slid into the rapids. , swim towards the opposite bank at a 45-degree angle.
Most rapids are caused by uneven river bottoms with many large rocks. Being in such rapids is not only dangerous, but also physically exhausting very quickly.
Wang Guoyu's body was continuously beaten by the rapids, and he took several mouthfuls of muddy water in his mouth. "When I was approaching the other side, I seemed to be stuck in the same place no matter how I swam. At that time, I only had one thought: keep swimming!" Suddenly, Wang Guoyu touched some rocks with his hand, and he immediately grabbed the rocks and tried to stand up.
succeeded! He swam and climbed to the other side! A rope bridge was successfully built during the flood, allowing firefighters to enter Sandong Village to carry out rescue operations.
Recalling the rescue at that time, Wang Guoyu said frankly that this was the first time he had received such a dangerous task, and he would be lying if he said he was not afraid. But he knew that there was a strong team behind him - behind him, there were team members who held his safety rope firmly; 1.2 kilometers upstream of the crossing point, there were team members who were observing obstacles floating in the flood in advance and removing them if there were obstacles. It can give early warning and interrupt the operation; downstream, a team member has prepared life-saving equipment. If he fails to cross and floats downstream, he can be rescued immediately.
In order to master proficient water rescue skills, Wang Guoyu and others start boat rapid rescue and rapids training in March and April every year to prepare for flood season rescue.
mainly carries out training on emergency rescue of drowning people, rope crossing of water areas to rescue people, rubber boat crossing to rescue people, and rapid evacuation of materials by rubber boats on the banks of rivers.
There are professionals in the industry who specialize in
They have transformed from "rebels" to "little white dragons in the waves"
"Everyone only knows that firefighters deal with fires, but few people know that we are actually responsible for water rescue." In Guangdong, summer rains , there are more typhoons, floods, waterlogging disasters, and water accidents are prone to occur. In Qiu Wei's view, water rescue is time-tight, difficult, and highly professional. The success rate of water-based rescue by rescuers alone is low, and it is difficult to ensure their own safety. If they can only rely on long-distance support from professional forces in other places, it is easy to miss the most important task. The best time to rescue.
Therefore, it is urgent to establish a professional water rescue team.
"We are already good at water rescue, but our relationship with underwater rescue has to start with the passage of Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018." Qiu Wei recalled that the typhoon at that time turned many places in Yangjiang into a vast ocean. "My teammates and I were going to enter a private house to rescue two people, but the entrances at the front and back of the house were flooded." At the critical moment, two firefighters from the Yangjiang Fire Brigade dived into the building and found the trapped people.
"At that time, I was thinking that it is not enough to carry out water rescue only to carry out rapid water and flood rescue. Many times we will encounter underwater rescue work that requires diving." So Qiu Wei specifically asked the senior firefighters for advice on diving. He learned about the movement and began to learn diving, and began to establish a professional water rescue team.
Soon, Qiu Wei obtained his first recreational diving certificate, and successively learned rescue diving and public safety diving, gradually becoming a professional diver.
At the same time, Qiu Wei serves as an assistant, continuing to learn in recreational diving while continuously improving diving skills in practice. "In the field of recreational diving, I have passed the level of divemaster, so I can train with them during daily training and build a tacit understanding." They kill two birds with one stone.
In April this year, three firefighters, Xie Xuekang, Cheng Zongqi and Wang Guoyu, went to the Guangzhou Diving School for comprehensive diving learning. Two months later, the three people obtained air diving certificates issued by the China Diving and Salvage Industry Association, allowing them to carry out rescue operations in areas 40 to 60 meters underwater, becoming vigorous "underwater dragons."
Throughout the province, there are more and more professional firefighting frogmen.
"We are just a small force in the province's water rescue. Now, 22 water rescue brigades have been established in various detachment-level units across the province to promote the innovative development, transformation and upgrading of fire rescue forces." Qiu Wei said, rescue from the fire scene to Waters, from mountains to high-rises, firefighters are constantly upgrading their capabilities.
"To protect the safety of the people, we must try our best to be more professional." He said.
[Planning] Hong Yiyi
[Interview] Guan Xiruyi Qi Lei
[Photography] Shi Lei Trainee reporter Xu Hao
[Editing] Mo Liting Intern Wu Zhongshu
[Communication] Chen Zuoquan
[Author] Guan Xiruyi; Shi Lei; Mo Liting; Qi Lei; Xu Hao
[Source] Southern Newspaper Media Group Nanfang+ Client
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