This Thursday, May 30, around thirty firefighters from SDIS 74 (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) met on the edge of Lake Annecy, in the bay of Talloires. On the agenda for the day: a aquatic search exercise. At 9:30 a.m., the alert was sounded. “We have a suspicion of drowning about fifty meters from the bank”, explains the emergency director. Here, the bottom of the lake already reaches more than 30 meters.
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In case of drowning, time is counted. “In Haute-Savoie, we are in an emergency phase which lasts two hours”, specifies Captain Julien Legrand. This delay, which may seem long, is linked to the relative freshness of the lake water (4°C at 10 meters depth). “At this temperature, the body’s cells will be preserved and necrosis will slow down. We can therefore hope to find a drowned person after two hours of searching, and save him. It has happened so it is possible but you will understand that more we wait and the fewer chances there are.”
Drones to see from above
So to go ever faster in locating the victim, the firefighters deploy their full range. On the water, one of the boats of the nautical brigade is equipped with a sonar and in the sky, the SDIS sends its drones. Chief Sergeant Jérémy Foulon is one of the Haute-Savoie firefighters specialized in piloting these devices. He explains that the drone allows “to search on the surface, at the same time visually and thermally“. Equipped with powerful headlights, it can also help divers when searching at night.
Richard Vivion
Even on the water, dogs’ scent works miracles
Another asset for firefighters: search dogs, as comfortable on land as on water. Swip, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois shepherd, is part of the Cluses dog unit. Embarked on the firefighter’s zodiac, its scent can help locate a drowned person. “Our dogs are trained to search for olfactory molecule of the human bodyexplains Chief Sergeant Julien Strigini. This molecule is lighter than water so in the event of a submerged victim, it rises to the surface and our dogs are able to detect it.”
Richard Vivion
And once the drowned person has been located, the fire brigade divers can take action. This Friday again, the SDIS of Haute-Savoie will continue its aquatic research exercises in the bay of Talloires. Every year, between 5 and 10 people are victims of fatal drowning in the lakes of Haute-Savoie.
