Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | North Carolina Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Team members are hoisted out of Lake...... read more read more
Subscribe
NEBO, N.C. – The North Carolina Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Team and North Carolina National Guard Aviators practiced rescue missions over Lake James in Nebo, N.C., May 7-8.
More than 20 fire and rescue, emergency medical services and law enforcement agencies from the western part of N.C. participated in the three-day training.
This event marked the 10-year anniversary of the NCHART and North Carolina National Guard helicopter crews working together to keep the citizens of North Carolina safe.
Staff Sgt. Edgar Bowers, from C Company, 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation Regiment, was part of the team of Guardsmen who add to the training by providing Black Hawk Helicopters and has been working with the NCHART since the partnership began.
“We started in Morganton, N.C. in 2004,” Bowers said. “In the beginning we trained twice a year, but now we train every 90 days.”
“Helicopters used to be a last resort because rescuers were unfamiliar with them,” Bowers said, “They are more likely to use this resource if they are familiar with it.”
In the 10 years that the NCHART has been training, the team has rescued 70 people, most recently a hiker in the Linville Gorge.
Bowers credits teamwork with being the success of the continued training.
“Most of the guys on the team know each others first names, we know their families,” Bowers said. “I think having that person to person relationship is what really makes this program work.”
The teams involved with the NCHART team spend many long days in addition to their regular duties making sure they are up to date on their training and ready whenever called upon.
“The people who participate in this don’t do it for their own goals or because it looks cool,” Bowers said. “They legitimately want to help their community.”
“If it was my family on top of that cliff or stuck in a car, I would want this asset to help them. Sometimes you can’t get to those areas except from the air.”
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2014 14:45 |
| Story ID: | 129540 |
| Location: | NEBO, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 128 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NCHART trains for 10 years, by SFC Mary Junell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
