Travis Co. ESD 2 does swift water training in New Braunfels

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - As we head into the warmer months, firefighters are getting ready for possible drowning-related calls. 

Crews from Travis County ESD 2 were in New Braunfels for swift water training.

"The big thing is if someone were to find them, the fire department shows up. We're able to affect a rescue, possibly get them into a lifejacket, get them off a vehicle, get them off of a tree, whatever they may be on," said Capt. Trevor Stokes, with Travis Co. ESD 2.

Crews did deep water rescues with rope bags, shallow water rescues, practiced body positioning, and learned about hydrology, so they could read the water and figure out where to best get in.

Officials say flooding regularly happens in Central Texas, and with population growth, some people might not be familiar with it. It's important to be weather aware. Turn around, don't drown.

"A lot of people think that they can drive, just because there's water covering the roadway, they can drive through it. The reality is vehicles will float in a very small amount of water," Stokes said.

While water conditions in real life will be much more unexpected, "it does give [firefighters] a very good imprint though, to know, 'hey, I've been here before,'" he said.

Firefighters say the need to hone water skills is always there. 

"Generally, for fire departments, it's just not something that we hit on very often. I think people just forget about it sometimes until, you know, the worst happens, and you have these large flash floods," firefighter and swift water instructor Paul Nutting said.

"Ultimately, our hope would be that we never have to do this, but the reality is, there are times that we do have to do this," Stokes said.