The timing was impeccable as the first responders were training for ice rescue when called to duty.
Paramedic firefighter Dave Herman and Assistant Chief Steve Rinehart are heroes after rescuing two teenagers who had fallen through the ice.
The timing was impeccable as the first responders were training for ice rescue when called to duty.
"You went from kind of standing around, talking about the ice, kind of, uh, rehashing what you'd just done," Herman said, "to actually having to get out there and do it."
"You didn't have time to think. You just tried your best to get your suit on, get everything ready, get out there as fast as you can."
It happened on a lake in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
As the firefighters were wrapping up their training, the teens were spotted running across the lake. And in less than 15 seconds, the ice broke, and they were in the water.
"They were spotted by our deputy chief," Herman said. "She pointed out to us, we all turned look thought, 'oh no, please don't go through the ice.' Next thing you know, they went through."
It's a good thing they were close by.
"They were definitely becoming hypothermic," Rinehart stated about the teens. "One of the individuals was very, very lethargic. And what I mean by that was he was pretty much floating vertically with only his face above water and wasn't moving."
Firefighters warn everyone to be careful around ice. Just because it looks like it might be thick enough to walk on doesn't mean that it's safe. Something these two lucky teens learned the hard way.
