State police rescue two snowmobilers fallen through ice on Higgins Lake
Published: Sunday, January 09, 2011, 1:30 PM
Updated: Monday, January 10, 2011, 9:35 AM
By Cole Waterman | The Bay City Times

HOUGHTON LAKE — Two snowmobilers who crashed through the ice on Higgins Lake were being treated for hypothermia after being pulled to safety by a pair of Michigan State Police troopers and area citizens.

Around 6:15 p.m., Michael Roy, of Houghton Lake, and James Cooper, of Chesaning, fell through the thin ice covering the lake. A short while later, Troopers Kyle Kehn and Harold Terry of the state police's Houghton Lake Post were dispatched to the scene near the lake's west shore boat launch.

Troopers report Roy and Cooper were in two different locations about a half-mile apart. Friends of the pair had made unsuccessful attempts at rescuing them prior to the troopers' arrival.

After the two snowmobilers had been in the icy water for about 20 minutes, Kehn located Roy near the boat launch and was able to deploy a rescue disk to him. With help from two of Roy's friends, Kehn pulled Roy onto safe ice.

Meanwhile, Terry located Cooper and also deployed a rescue disk. Terry was also assisted by bystanders in pulling Cooper to safety.

Both victims were transported to Grayling Mercy Hospital. They are expected to make a full recovery, troopers report.

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2 Pulled to Safety From Lake Michigan
By Evanston Police
Chicago Tribune - 08/05/2008

What started as a late night swim turned into a dramatic rescue early Sunday after Evanston police pulled two distressed swimmers to safety from the choppy water of Lake Michigan, authorities said.

"I was yelling for help," Jeffrey Greenberg, 44, of West Dundee said Monday. "Someone coming to get us is the only way we're alive today."

Greenberg said he and his friend, Heather Muffett, 39, of Hammond, were celebrating her birthday and decided to go swimming at Lee Street Beach about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

But after they got into the water, Greenberg and Muffett were fighting for their lives. Muffett got caught in an undertow, and when Greenberg tried to assist her, 5-foot waves slammed them both against a metal breakwater at the south end of the beach, Greenberg said.

"I definitely know there was no possible way of getting back to shore on my own," Greenberg said. "If I could have, I would have."

With waves crashing over them, the two clung to each other and the breakwater for 90 minutes before they felt the water had calmed to the point where they could safely reach the shore about 50 yards away, Greenberg said.

"That's when the disaster broke," he said. "I don't know what happened; I think a wave hit us. All of a sudden she was gone. I thought she was dead."

Muffett surfaced about 10 yards away and screamed for help as they both clung to the breakwater in order to keep from being pulled under the water.

"I was pretty much bounced around," Muffett said Monday. "Every time I had a chance to get up to the surface, I took a breath and then was dunked down again."

A resident heard the cries for help and called police. When Police Officer Matthew George arrived minutes later, he said he was unable to see Greenberg and Muffett because of the darkness and waves.

"When I finally saw them they were being battered up against the breakwater," George said. "I told them we were going to get them out."

Battling the waves, George and Officer Jeffrey Faison entered the water up to their necks and threw Greenberg a rescue disc, then pulled him to safety. Moments later officers threw the disc to Muffett and pulled her to the shore.

Other officers arrived during the rescue to assist. Officer Mikhail Geyer, one of those assisting, was treated for swallowing too much water and released.

Greenberg and Muffett were taken to a local hospital where they were treated and released. They were ticketed for swimming on the beach after it was closed.

"We're both very shaken, and we're ecstatic to be alive," she said. "For us it was nothing short of a miracle. We would definitely be dead right now if they hadn't come."

George said the rescue took about 8 minutes and it was all part of a night's work.

"If we hadn't been that close and we didn't have the rescue disc . . . I don't think there's any doubt they wouldn't have lasted much longer," he said. "I was just glad that we could be in the area to help."

Squad Uses Frisbee-Like Gadget In Tubers’ Rescue
By Anna C. Irwin Of the Daily Times Staff

If you can throw a Frisbee, you can save a life.

Blount County Rescue Squad used the ResQ Disc to prove that last Friday when the hauled two tubers out of Little River in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, then were called back to the park less than an hour later to rescue four swimmers in trouble at the Townsend Y.

The chief executive officer of Save A Life, the Florida company that produces the discs, planned to fly to Blount County Thursday to personally congratulate the squad for their life-saving efforts. Unfortunately, Dr. Sytko’s plane was grounded by bad weather in Atlanta.

A plaque recognizing the Blount County Rescue Squad’s efforts was presented by James Bruns of Bruns Wholesale in Seymour, the East Tennessee representative for Save A Life.

Harold Robbins, chairman of the squad’s board of directors, accepted the recognition on behalf of the squad’s volunteers. He also announced plans for a fund-raising effort by the squad utilizing the ResQ Disc.

Robbins said everyone making a donation of $30 or more to the Blount County Rescue Squad will receive one of the discs which retail for $39.95. Those who get a disc in appreciation for a $30 donation will save almost $10 over a retail purchase. The rescue squad will keep $10 from each $30 donation.

“The greatest benefit will be getting the ResQ Disc into the hands of boaters, people with swimming pools, and others who might someday need to save someone from drowning,” Robbins said.

Details of the disc giveaway to donors will be announced later.

The disc looks like a fat orange Frisbee wearing a belt. Only 12 inches across, it’s compact enough for any location. When needed, anyone can use it by pulling lose the Velcro on the belt to free a few yards of the 100 feet of rope wrapped around the disc. The belt is attached to the thrower’s waist before the disc is thrown.

The disc releases its rope as it sails through the air. The rope acts as a guide making it relatively easy to hit a target area. Once the disc lands in the water, it becomes a flotation device able to support two adults who can be pulled to safety with the rope.

Jana Lusby, Blount County Rescue Squad unit director, said Burns gave two discs to the squad a few months ago and asked them to test the device.

“We used it in April to get lines across the river when we were recovering the body of a drowning victim at The Sinks,” Lusby said. “We used it again last Friday and were convinced it’s a valuable tool for water rescue.”

“We teach people to reach, throw, row, or go – in that order. If you can’t reach a victim, throw something to them. If that doesn’t work, use a boat to reach them. Going into the water to swim out to a victim is a last resort. Too often, the would-be rescuer becomes another victim,” Lusby said.

Since the ResQ Disc is a new invention, it has been extensively tested but there were only six documented uses in which lives were actually saved – until last Friday. The Blount County Rescue Squad’s rescues from Little River doubled the number of people saved by the ResQ Disc.