What's News?

By Second Assistant Chief Roblee

Thursday July 3, 2025

On July 2, the Sardinia Town Pool lifeguard staff and the Chaffee-Sardinia Fire Company participated in an Emergency Preparedness Drill.  The purpose of the drill is to expose lifeguards to the real timeline of events following an emergency at the town pool facility.  The drill also allowed lifeguards and first responders to practice their basic medical assessment and basic life support skills.

The drill began with a fake drowning patient in the pool under the water.  Lifeguards are alerted to the situation and immediately begin rescue operations.  The pool staff follow their protocol, with one person calling 911 and the rest of the available lifeguards moving to rescue the patient in the water.  In under a minute, the lifeguards are able to pull the patient to the surface and connect with 911 dispatchers.

As part of this drill, a mock 911 call was performed between pool staff and first responders.  This mock call mimicked a real 911 call where dispatchers ask a series of questions about the situation.  Questioning allows dispatchers to send the appropriate resources for the emergency and provide responders with as much information as possible on what they will find on arrival.  The pool staff did an excellent job providing as much information as was available at the time of the 911 call.

After the 911 call, the fire company's responders were "dispatched" to the pool for an unconscious person in the water.  Responders waited for up to 6 minutes before responding to mimic actual response times for our volunteer services.  While fire company personnel were "responding," pool staff pulled the patient from the water, assessed their condition and began CPR.

Assistant Chief Siminski arrived and assisted with CPR.  The lifeguards continued to care for the patient until the ambulance arrived with more equipment.  EMTs took over patient care and eventually transported the patient on a backboard.

Drills between the fire company and local organizations are extremely important.  We often work together when minutes matter, and understanding how to work with each other benefits everyone when that time comes.  Collaboration keeps our community strong and prepared!