By Tom Tracy
A quiet morning in the bucolic, yet bitterly cold Prospect Park was shattered by the thrum, thrum, thrumming of rotor blades Monday as police prepared for the worst. Armed with helicopters, cold weather gear and lots of ropes, upwards of 40 cops participated in a special “ice rescue training.” Members of the NYPD Scuba Team as well as Aviation Air and Sea Rescue participated in the exercise, which was held on the frozen-over lake near Wollman Rink. The ice covering the fenced-off lake was about eight inches thick, making it a perfect background for the specialized training, where teams worked to pull a fictional victim out of the frigid waters. Police officials said that training like this is important for these officers, who may be called at a moment’s notice to rescue someone who may wander off onto a frozen body of water and then fall in. Officials at the scene told reporters that most of the victims are young children testing their courage on the fragile surface or pet owners chasing their pooches onto the ice. If one finds themselves falling into an iced-over lake, one should immediately try to pull themselves out of the lake before the cold numbs their arms and legs. “The more of your body you have out of the water, the more time you’re going to have before hypothermia sets in to the point where it may kill you,” NYPD Harbor Unit Captain David Driscoll Driscoll told reporters attending the rescue exercise. In the last two years, teams were called to Prospect Park to rescue a man who had fallen into the lake, cops remembered.
