Hoyer stresses importance of drills, communication at swift water training

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DUNBAR, W.Va. — Helicopters were seen flying low along the Kanawha River in western Kanawha County all day on Friday but it was all part of drills.

Various local and state first responders participated in the West Virginia Swift Water Rescue Team (WVSWRT) training event with the U.S. Coast Guard and the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) in Dunbar.

Maj. Gen. James A. Hoyer, the WVNG Adjutant General, was on hand and couldn’t stress enough the importance of events like that.

Maj. Gen. James Hoyer

“It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not easy for the person on that hoist, it’s not easy on that aircrew to make sure that is done safely. These things need to need to be practiced,” Hoyer said.

The exercise training scenario operations revolved around a mock collision between two large vessels under/near the Dunbar Bridge with multiple casualties in the water.

More training activities included aerial hoist operations with U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, surface search, and rescue operations via fast recovery boats, and rescue and recovery dive operations.

Hoyer said these pieces of training pay off in catastrophic events such as hurricane and the June 2016 floods in West Virginia. He credited the first responders around the state that rushed to the scene in southern West Virginia.

“Our death toll would have been substantially higher if the first responders hadn’t been so well trained, capable and responded so quickly,” he said.

According to a WVNG release, the complete list of civilian counterparts included members from the Glasgow and Clendenin Volunteer Fire Departments, Wheeling FD, U.S. Coast Guard, Dunbar PD, Dunbar FD, South Charleston PD, South Charleston FD, Charleston PD, Charleston FD, WVDHSEM, Kanawha County 911, and the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority.

Participants from more than a dozen agencies look on.

Hoyer harped the importance of the WVNG assisting the civilian crews because of the Guard’s tools and experience. He said it’s equally important to show the local first responders that there is a safe environment for them.

“There is no substitute for testing communications and that face to face interaction between agencies and personnel to make sure we know and understand how each other thinks,” Hoyer said.

WVNG said the roughly 50-member WVSWRT is comprised equally of WVNG members and firefighters/first responders with experience and training in search and rescue and swift water rescue operations. In 2018 the team attained FEMA Level 2 status allowing them to deploy throughout the country in the event of natural disasters.