AMESBURY — Based on the appearance of several first responders, those passing by the Merrimack River on Wednesday may have thought they stumbled upon a crisis happening before their eyes.
Thankfully, the dozens of firefighters, police officers and harbormaster staffers there weren’t trying to rescue a distressed boater or a find lost swimmer but rather were taking part in search-and-rescue training.
The exercises, hosted by Amesbury Harbormaster and police Chief Craig Bailey, included members of the Newburyport Harbormaster Department, the Salisbury Harbormaster Department, the Massachusetts Environmental Police, Amesbury Fire Rescue, and the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council and its Incident Management Team with its drone unit.
Preparing for the worst, the Merrimack River, considered one of the nation’s most dangerous rivers due to its unpredictably fast currents and the not-to-be-underestimated mouth to the Atlantic Ocean, is a no-brainer for agencies that line the 117-mile river that begins in Franklin, New Hampshire, and ends in Newburyport and Salisbury.
The training differed from most exercises as its goal was to strengthen communication between area first responders, according to Bailey.
“As opposed to being just a regional maritime search-and-rescue exercise, it was really designed to increase partnership and cooperation between local harbormasters and the Northeast Law Enforcement Council, their Incident Management Assistance Team and their drone unit,” he said.
The training also heavily featured drones, a newer piece of technology that can be incredibly helpful in search-and-rescue situations.
“Drones are a relatively new concept that have gained a lot of notoriety over the past three to five years,” Bailey said. “The technology that’s behind drones is always getting better and better. And one of the things that I thought would be important was to let the harbormasters in the river see what the drone’s capability was, and know that obviously it’s an available resource to them if they need it.”
The day began with a briefing where first responders were given a scenario in which there was an overturned or capsized boat near the Chain Bridge, with three people from the boat going into the Merrimack River.
To simulate two of the three people, weighted buoys were thrown into different parts of the water, and one harbormaster unit was dispatched to each buoy.
One harbormaster unit was not able to locate the buoy and used the drone unit, which hovered over the buoy to indicate its location. The other unit, however, was able to find the buoy before the drone.
Bailey said the results of both drills perfectly demonstrated what could happen in a real-life emergency, showcasing the capabilities of the harbormaster departments and the drone units.
“It was an interesting drill to see how that all panned out,” he said.
Then, two more drills were run in which a live person was on a sandbar on Eagle Island to represent the third person from the capsized boat.
To emulate a real-life situation, the person participating in the drill acted exhausted and borderline hypothermic, meaning the individual was able to talk but not move.
Drones and emergency responders were employed in these drills, and the person on the sandbar was successfully brought to shore.
After the training concluded, Newburyport Harbormaster Paul Hogg said his three assistants who were present for the exercise said they were glad to have participated.
“We met, we talked about it, they said it was excellent,” he said.
Bailey said once the training was complete, the participants were glad they took part and talked about how to improve.
“[There was] a lot of positive feedback, but in addition to the positive feedback, I think there were a lot of good conversations on how we could make the training better in the future, and I think that was more productive,” he said.
Mainly, Bailey said being able to mirror a real-life emergency during training is key since it allows first responders to identify what they need to work on and improve their skills.
“There’s always things that we could work on, and what the drill yesterday taught us was just those things. And it’s only going to make all of us better responders by practicing those things and pulling ourselves out of that comfort zone,” he said.