River Ruse Brings Responders

- by Wes Skillings courtesy of Rocket-Courier.com

5/29/2008

If you were driving around the vicinity of Wyalusing last Thursday between 4:30 and 5 p.m., you would have likely encountered rescue and ambulance vehicles, wailing sirens and flashing lights coming from all directions. The call went out that there was a water emergency and possible drowning in the Susquehanna River just downstream from the Rainbow Bridge near an island area behind the Bill Gamble home.

A few minutes earlier a passerby had spotted an overturned canoe and what appeared to be an individual lying face down on a rock and another thrashing in the water 10 to 12 feet off shore. A third individual was also observed near the scene. It turned out to be a false alarm, and, depending on what version of the story you heard, the young men involved were either just having fun in the river and somebody with a cellphone overreacted or they were trying to draw attention.

They did indeed do the latter, with Wyalusing fire personnel there in barely a minute, according to Adam Dietz, president of the fire company and one of the first to respond. What Dietz observed confirmed what the woman who called it in had related, with one still lying on the rock and the other still in the water “and he looked like he was struggling,” recalled Dietz, who was yelling to them from the shore as they were setting up there.

It was the absence of the nebulous third man that raised fears of a drowning, along with a lack of response from the two people they could see, A call went out quickly for more help and river rescue personnel. Troops were already responding from Laceyville and now they were coming from Wysox, Towanda and North Towanda with their combined river rescue crews, as well as the Tunkhannock Dive Team and Memorial EMS.

By the time all had responded, Dietz says there were four boats, an ambulance, two rescue trucks, a dive team and their gear and dozens of personnel with their own vehicles. A Fish Commission Officer also responded to the scene. How many tanks of fuel and hours of time were wasted in this response was another matter.

“I don’t think anybody overreacted,” says Dietz. “I talked to the woman who called it in and she said the kids were definitely agitated and upset. This must have lasted for an extended period of time.”

“I’m sure they were just having a good time,” Dietz added. “If they had responded when I was yelling at them or let us know there was no cause for alarm, it would have stopped right there.”

As for the missing third person, the two young men insisted they were the only ones involved and reportedly told the Fish Commission Officer that they were not trying to draw attention or cause any public alarm.

The only citation handed out, according to Dietz, was one for disorderly conduct by the Fish Commission.

The positive thing about it was the quick response from all parties involved. In the event of a real river emergency in the Wyalusing area, it appears area rescue volunteers are up to the task.

“I guess we can chalk it up as a disaster drill,” Dietz concluded.