An exercise performed on the James River last week provided local first responders with water-related emergency training.
The James City County Police Underwater Search and Recovery Team and James City County Fire Department Maritime Incident Response Team hosted the exercise with first responders from Newport News, Williamsburg, the United States Army, the Port of Virginia Regional Command and Riverside Doctors Hospital as participants.
The Sept. 28 training emulated a real-life emergency by creating a scenario where a government contractor reported two divers missing and one diver injured and floating on the surface of the river, according to a James City County news release.
Three dive teams conducted a rescue mission, using sonar tools, to find the missing divers and treat the injured diver. In the midst of that scenario, another played out where a public safety diver needed to be treated for an injury, the release states.
The exercise included transporting the public safety diver to Riverside Doctors Hospital for treatment and to Fort Eustis to the 74th United States Army Dive Detachment’s recompression chamber, according to the release.
