MANCHESTER, NH â Despite darkness and disjointed information from a frantic caller, fire officials credit the persistence of fire dispatch in aiding Manchester firefighters in locating and rescuing a man who was reportedly being carried away by the river.
The initial call came in at 9:52 p.m. saying that there was a man in the river behind Fisher Cats Stadium.
According to a report of the incident issued by Battalion Chief Robert Beaudet the caller was highly agitated and information was difficult to obtain.
Car 1 arrived on scene and established command and performed initial size-up of the scene, then requested more information from MFD dispatch, which was able to reach the unknown male caller who remained agitated.
“Through the persistence of dispatch, updates to the victim’s location were consistent and vital to the operation,” Beaudet wrote in the report.
Members of R1, E11, T1 prepared boats 1 & 2 for launch. Once both boats were in the water, it was determined the victim had drifted past the Queen City Bridge, so boats were directed to head in that direction. E6 had originally deployed to Granite Street Bridge to try to locate the victim, but once the victim was reported to be nearing Queen City Bridge E6 re-positioned to Dunbar Street, south of the bridge, they located the man on the western portion of the river and Boat 1 located and rescued the man.
Boats 1 & 2 then proceeded to the boat launch where ALS-4 took over patient care. The man was out of the water and in the ambulance at 10:15 p.m.
The man was suffering from hypothermia and was still being evaluated for injuries.
