This weekend, four members of the Center Moriches FD Water Rescue Team completed an intensive Ice Rescue Technician course all while battling sub-zero wind chills and harsh winter conditions.

This training wasn’t just cold… it was brutal. But our members showed exactly what dedication looks like.

The course covered critical lifesaving skills, including:
• hypothermia recognition & drowning prevention
• Rapid victim retrieval
• Line tending, tether operations & ice-pole techniques
• Self-rescue, victim buoyancy & multi-victim scenarios
• Use of sleds and transport devices across unstable ice

These skills ensure that when someone falls through the ice, your CMFD responders are trained, certified, and ready no matter how dangerous the conditions.

These members will now join the highly trained Marine Incident Response Team as certified Ice Rescue Technicians. The Marine Incident Response Team is a multi-agency task force made up of six local fire departments working together to protect our waterways year-round.

These dedicated firefighters stand ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice in any weather, in any conditions to keep our community safe.