Joint exercise between the water rescue service and the fire department: rescue on Lake Starnberg!

Joint exercise between the water rescue service and the fire department: rescue on Lake Starnberg!

At the beautiful Lake Starnberg, the Wolfratshausen water rescue service and the Holzhausen fire department recently carried out a joint exercise to optimize their processes and response times in an emergency. This exercise takes place regularly between the beginning of May and the end of September on weekends and public holidays and is of great importance for the emergency services. The water rescue service is active in the Schwaiblbach water rescue station on the eastern shore of Lake Starnberg and is responsible for medical care on land as well as help on the water, especially in the event of fires on boats, while the Holzhausen fire department is the nearest fire department and is alerted to such operations.

As part of the exercise, the fire department's portable pump was loaded onto a boat while the first boat went out to rescue people. The clear distribution of tasks is a central part of the collaboration: the water rescue service looks after boats and watercraft, while the fire department is responsible for extinguishing fires. Almost 20 emergency services took part in the last exercise. The process included instruction on the life jackets, use in two boats, operation of the pump and a change of teams. To minimize tripping hazards, shorter hoses were used. Activating the pump and jetting water through the attached hoses were also on the exercise plan. The enthusiasm of the participants shows that this exercise is considered one of the most valuable. Mercury reports about this successful campaign.

Challenges at Lake Starnberg

The importance of such exercises becomes even clearer when one considers the recent tragic events at Lake Starnberg: two young bathers drowned there in the past few days. Walter Kohlenz, the watch chief on duty at the water rescue station in Possenhofen, reported that the rescue operations took place under difficult conditions. The first emergency call was received at the Fürstenfeldbruck control center shortly after 1:30 p.m. Kohlenz's lifeboat was in the water just 30 seconds after the emergency call.

A 32-year-old who jumped into the water with his partner and five children was unable to stay afloat and was rescued by other boaters. Although immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation was initiated, the man later died. During this rescue operation, a second emergency call came in about a missing person. The rapid response group “Diving” and water detection dogs were immediately deployed to search. A 23-year-old student who jumped into the water with friends also lost his strength and could not be rescued. The search for the student is ongoing and emergency services assume he is dead. The evening newspaper reported this tragic incident.

Lake Starnberg, which has a depth of up to 128 meters, presents difficult conditions, particularly in terms of weather, visibility and currents. Kohlenz emphasizes that such operations should never become routine. In order to prevent future accidents, the water rescue service recommends going into the water in a controlled manner when temperatures are high in order to avoid circulatory problems. Other safety tips include avoiding alcohol, supervising children, wearing life jackets and avoiding nighttime swimming.