News Release from: Gaston Fire Dist.
GASTON FIRE TO DEDICATE NEW HAGG LAKE RESCUE BOAT
Posted: April 26th, 2012 8:48 AM
Photo/sound file: http://www.flashalertnewswire.net/images/news/2012-04/3743/53764/boat11.jpg (Gaston Fire's Boat 11 at Henry Hagg Lake Boat Ramp C, where it will be dedicated at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 5.)
(NOTE: MEDIA RIDES ON THE BOAT WILL BE AVAILABLE)
On Saturday, May 5, the Gaston Fire Rural Fire District will formally dedicate its new rescue boat, which already has been put to use saving lives at Henry Hagg Lake.
The boat was purchased this winter with a $45,000 grant from the Dal Baker Trust, named for one of the founders of Washington County based Baker Rock Resources.
Members of the Baker family will join dignitaries from throughout the region for dedication ceremonies at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 5, at Hagg Lake's Boat Ramp C.
The boat and its crew already have been busy helping people while on the lake for practice drills. On Saturday, April 21, six Gaston emergency medical technicians, joined by two others from Cornelius and Newberg, were just offshore in the boat when a call came in from Boat Ramp C.
On shore, the EMTs found a visitor to the park in full cardiac arrest. Using a defibrillator, the EMTs were able to restart the man's heart and he was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to a local hospital. The man and his family are tentatively scheduled to attend the May 5 dedication ceremonies.
The next day, a sunny Sunday, crews were back at the lake for drills when three more calls came in for injured park visitors.
That unusually warm April weekend was typical of the impact the lake and its surrounding park has on the Gaston Fire District. On sunny summer weekends, visitors to the lake more than double the population of the District, which typically serves a community of about 7,000 people. Yet on April 22, 8,000 people poured through the gates of the park, and all three of the department's calls that day involved guests of the park.
To cope with these large influxes of people, the Dal Baker Trust gave Gaston Fire $45,000 to purchase a boat to replace two aging personal watercraft, which the Trust also had purchased for the department in 2005. The Sign Company of Hillsboro and the Sirennet Corporation also donated labor and materials to outfit the new rescue boat.
The boat is staffed by members of Gaston Fire's volunteer Water Patrol, which also includes volunteers from other local agencies, including Cornelius Fire and Newberg Fire. The volunteers have spent as much as 50 hours this spring in classroom training and drills on the boat to qualify for the program. Each member is an EMT and has passed rigorous swimming tests.
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