ALERT helicopter team practices river tow rescue

With water levels throughout the Flathead Valley running higher than normal this summer, it’s been a busy season for Flathead County Search and Rescue.

“We’ve been relatively busy with more traffic on the water,” said Flathead County Search and Rescue coordinator Brian Johnson. “There are a lot of people who are inexperienced on the high water.”

On Saturday, search and rescue personnel — along with members of the ALERT helicopter team, Swan Mission Search and Rescue, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks — gathered near Sportsman’s Bridge on the Flathead River to participate in a helicopter tow rescue training exercise. In all, about 50 people participated in the simulation.

“It’s our newest exercise of the year,” said Flathead County undersheriff Jordan White. “We’ve never used this type of rescue before.”

The technique involves dropping a flotation ring into the river from the helicopter so the victim can grab hold of it and be towed to shore.

Over the course of the four-hour training session, participants took turns navigating the helicopter and playing the part of the victim.

Although state law mandates that each sheriff’s office take responsibility for the search and rescue operation in its county, the Flathead County Search and Rescue unit does not have its own helicopter. Instead, the sheriff’s department contracts the services of Kalispell Regional Medical Center’s ALERT helicopter team.

“The sheriff’s department would love to have its own helicopter, but that’s not really feasible right now,” White said. “The issue with us having a helicopter is truly funding. They’re expensive, they’re complicated and maintenance is difficult.”

The ALERT unit is staffed 24 hours a day, White said. The only problem is that the ALERT team’s medical calls take precedence over search and rescue calls. When the ALERT team is unable to answer a search and rescue call, the response time is significantly longer.

“The helicopter flies at 100 miles per hour when it’s moving in a straight line,” White said. “It can be anywhere within the valley floor within five or 10 minutes, and it takes very little time to launch the aircraft.”

By comparison, a response by ground could take 20 to 30 minutes “based on a best-case scenario,” White said.

Time is of the essence when it comes to water rescues, as it doesn’t take long for panic and hypothermia to set in.

“We want to be able to drag them to shore while they still have enough strength to help themselves,” White said. “They only have about 10 to 15 minutes before they can no longer help themselves.”

White said Saturday’s exercise will give rescuers one more tool as the busy summer season continues.

“We (Flathead County) have by far the most search and rescue calls of any county in Montana, mostly because of the clean water resources for recreation and the abundance of wilderness areas,” White said. “We’re always thinking about what we can do to keep our community safer, and this (exercise) is one step.”