Hertfordshire emergency services practise life-saving water rescue using upturned, submerged car in River Lea

Emergency services in Hertfordshire have been practising life-saving water rescues in preparation for the school summer holiday.

A training exercise involved rescuing two people from a partially submerged, overturned car in the River Lea on the Hertfordshire-Essex border.

Hertfordshire police, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service crews, East of England Ambulance Service paramedics and the Environment Agency worked together to carry out the rescue under fast-flowing water conditions.

In the exercise scenario, police received a report that a car with two people in it and loud music playing was being driven off-road near the river. Five minutes later there was a further call, this time from the driver, to say the vehicle had flipped off the verge and into the river, landing on its roof.

Under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), emergency services in England are required to take part in regular training exercises and strive to create conditions that replicate possible real-life events as closely as possible.

In this case, the exercise took place on Environment Agency (EA) land under carefully controlled conditions and included careful preparation to ensure the waterways were safe for emergency workers to work in and that there was no impact on the water or surrounding environment.

The car used was classified as ‘clean’ to ensure no contamination of the water or damage to the surrounding countryside.

Jon Alder, training and exercising advisor for the EA, said: “Although the car used in the exercise had been drained and cleaned of oil and any other potentially polluting fluids, we were also able to test our pollutant barrier and video around the accident scene to test our response to tackling pollutant events.”

Herts deputy chief fire officer Andy Hopcraft said: “As we approach the summer months we see an unfortunate increase in the number of water-based incidents we’re called to. Although we’d prefer not to see these incidents, I’m impressed by the commitment our teams show in training and preparing for these events.

“I’m proud of the way our crews continue to work together to ensure they’re ready to respond to the risks that our communities face.”