Courtesy Photo | Pennsylvania Army National Guard and civilian assets from the Commonwealth of...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Four aviation Soldiers from Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th Combat Aviation Brigade were part of a team that received the 2014 Higgins and Langley Memorial Award in Swiftwater Rescue for Program Development presented by The National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) at its annual conference on June 6th, 2014, at Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Sgt. 1st Class Frank Palfrey, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Edward Killilea, Maj. John Girvin and Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Fefolt were part of a nine-member team from Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (PA-HART) earning national recognition for their work in swiftwater and flood rescue.
The Higgins and Langley Memorial Awards were established in 1993 by members of the Swiftwater Rescue Committee of NASAR in honor of Earl Higgins, a writer and filmmaker who lost his life in 1980 while rescuing a child who was swept down the flood-swollen Los Angeles River, and Jeffrey Langley, a Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighter-paramedic, who lost his life in a helicopter incident in 1993.
The award recognizes the dedication of the team to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania in rescue operations as well as recognizing the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), and Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission who designed and coordinated all the elements of an innovative, comprehensive swiftwater and flood rescue program.
The Pennsylvania Army National Guard (PAARNG) and PEMA started the joint training initiative in 2006 to create PA-HART. This initiative would not have been possible without the dedicated volunteer civilian water rescue instructors and the committed military trainers.
During the first six years, training focused on ground technical proficiency. The civilian rescue technicians trained and certified a majority of the unit members in swift water levels one and two, while the aircrew members trained the technicians on helicopter operations and aviation safety. This type of joint training enables certified swiftwater/flood response teams to integrate army aviation medical evacuation helicopter training with water incident responses.
PA-HART is now a highly specialized team consisting of Pennsylvania Army National Guard Aviation assets matched with Pennsylvania Emergency Management and trained municipal, county, state emergency response personnel that form a mission ready package for helicopter-based rescues using the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. PA-HART continue to work as a joint military and civilian certified multi-task emergency response team, combining the “best of the best” and creating a critical specialized resource for the Commonwealth that is second to none.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.12.2014 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 132935 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 555 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Pennsylvania Swiftwater Rescue Partnership Program Receives High Honors, by CPT Israel Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT