Under the Surface: Ridgewood Firefighters Battle the Depths in Intense Graydon Pool Rescue Drills
photos courtesy of the Ridgewood Professional Firefighters FMBA Local 47
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, When emergency strikes beneath the water, every second counts. That is why the Ridgewood Professional Firefighters FMBA Local 47 just wrapped up their rigorous annual SCUBA and underwater rescue training at Graydon Pool.
All three firefighter platoons pushed through demanding, real-world simulations to ensure that if the absolute worst happens, they are ready to save lives.
🌊 Training For the Scenarios We Hope Never Happen
Water rescue is an elite, high-stakes discipline. As the department shared:
“There are some things that we train for that we hope we never have to use, and this is one of those things.”
Despite the hope that these skills won’t be needed, the reality of emergency response requires total readiness. The annual drills at Graydon Pool ensure that both the divers in the water and the support teams on land operate as a seamless unit.
A Coordinated Lifesaving Effort:
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The SCUBA Divers: Certified rescue divers practiced underwater navigation, search patterns, and rapid victim recovery in limited-visibility conditions.
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Land-Based Firefighters: Crucial support personnel sharpened their skills in supervising complex dive operations and tending the vital safety lines that keep divers connected to the surface.
🛠️ Cutting-Edge Tech: The AquaEye Advantage
This year’s drills heavily featured advanced rescue technology. Ridgewood firefighters trained extensively with the VodaSafe AquaEye, a groundbreaking handheld sonar device specifically designed for underwater search and rescue.
Using latest-generation ultrasound and artificial intelligence, the AquaEye allows land and water teams to scan an entire acre of water in under two minutes. By quickly pinpointing the location of a missing person beneath the surface, this technology eliminates guesswork, slashes rescue times, and keeps first responders safer.
Through continuous training and investments in top-tier technology, Ridgewood’s bravest continue to prove they are ready for any emergency—on land or underwater.
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#Ridgewood#RidgewoodFire#FMBALocal47#GraydonPool#WaterRescue#AquaEye#BergenCounty#LocalBravest
If seconds count why aren’t the lifeguards receiving this extra training and equipment?
By the time the Fire Department gets there it would be a recovery operation.