Rickard Trust benefits water rescue

Maryville Public Safety Officer Josh McMillen applied for and received a Gladys Rickard Charitable Trust grant for $5,832.

The grant was used to purchase water rescue equipment to expand Public Safety’s search and rescue capabilities. The equipment will help to keep the rescuers safer during water rescue operations and training sessions.

Purchased were two Extractor Mega Model PWC Rescue Sleds, which float on the water, and 12 Stearns Search/Rescue Type III Flotation Vests for the rescuers to wear during rescues and trainings.

One sled will be kept and deployed from the Maryville Public Safety building and the second will be kept at the Mozingo Lake Police building. The sleds can be deployed as a stand-alone rescue sled with the use of a throw line or they can be deployed behind a personal water craft, such as the ones kept at Mozingo. The sleds are used to reach and recover victims on bodies of water including lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. The sleds can also be utilized during ice rescues.

Nodaway County consists of 878 square miles, with a population of approximately 23,000 in addition to approximately 6,000 college students. Nodaway County is primarily a rural area with farm ponds, small lakes, creeks and three significant rivers, the Nodaway, the 102, and the Platte.

The rivers and creeks in our county are prone to flooding on an annual basis which causes areas of water to pool outside the traditional banks of the rivers and creeks. Nodaway County is also the home of Mozingo Lake, Nodaway Lake and Bilby Lake. With the exception of the three named lakes most of these bodies of water do not have docks to launch boats from in a traditional manner. In addition, the bodies of water are not accessible by motor vehicles with boat trailers.