Seen At 11: Elite Teams Race Against Time In Ice Rescues
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Despite weeks of frigid temperatures, frozen ponds and lakes still aren't safe.
We've seen people venturing out and getting trapped, prompting dangerous and expensive rescues. Most have no idea they're treading on treacherous ground.
CBS2's Jessica Schneider went into the danger zone with the NYPD's elite Special Operations Division as they performed daring rescues.
Once you break through the ice, it's a race against time.
As dangerous as the ice is, the extreme winter conditions are no match for NYPD's most highly trained specialized team -- the Emergency Service Unit.
"All ice is bad ice!" one detective said.
But they're always ready for a rescue, as are the grateful people stranded on the ice.
"They're like, please just get me out of this water. They want anybody to help, they just want out," said Detective Donald LaSala.
Schneider teamed up with the elite ESU for a long day of drills on Prospect Park's pond in Brooklyn.
Before Schneider could step out onto the ice, she suited up in a dry suit for protection from the freezing temperatures and icy water.
Rescue crews told her to lay down and distribute her weight evenly on the ice, which is exactly what you should do if there's no way off and the ice is cracking beneath you.
"Your life support is actually that piece of ice that is holding you up," LaSala said.
The most basic tool for rescue is a wooden ladder that bridges solid pieces of ice over spots breaking underneath.
Patrol officers stood on the shore, pushing a ladder out to Schneider section by section.
Schneider grabbed onto the ladder and used her waning strength to climb rung by rung. She was then pulled to shore.
Rescue crews also toss out flotation rings to pull victims in.
But in more problematic rescues, where the trapped person has no strength left, a specially trained ESU squad member will climb onto the ice.
Then, they handed Schneider a harness, telling her to lift her arms around the flotation device and reeled her in. The whole time, she felt heavy and helpless.
But when real danger sets in and someone is submerged, an NYPD helicopter and harbor unit move in and the only way out is an air rescue.
In one scenario, a chopper hovers above and a scuba diver scales down the line and into the water. He reaches the victim, getting into the water in the process, latches him into a harness and lifts him out.
The chopper lifts the icy twosome hundreds of feet into the air, whisking them away.
"Your adrenaline goes up and you really want to go down there and do the job," NYPD Scuba Team member Det. John Mortimer said.
By air and across frozen sea, the NYPD's Harbor Unit and Emergency Services Unit rescue people stranded on frigid terrain at great peril to themselves without hesitation.
Schneider said it was amazing to see the elite teams working against the clock. But their number one message is to stay off the ice altogether.
