On Sunday, February 18th, Co's 14 and 28 participated in an air boat ice water drill. Air boats 14 and 28 were taken to the Potomac river to practice staging, launching, and handling the air boats in ice water. This was the first time that the air boats had been on the water together. An unexpected snow squall and a vehicle accident on Rt 15 at the river brought the drill to a quick end.

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Monday March 13, 2006;

Two Manitoba snowmobilers stranded on an island near Kenora Friday night were rescued in an airboat by the Lake of the Woods Search and Rescue unit. By Dan Gauthier Miner and News. Two Manitoba snowmobilers stranded on an island near Kenora Friday night were rescued in an airboat by the Lake of the Woods Search and Rescue unit.

Rescue unit member Terry McLeod said they received a call from the Kenora detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police just before 8 p.m. Friday to pick up two snowmobilers who had broken through thin ice and were stranded on Leisure Island on the east end of the Keewatin Channel.

Three deaths, serious injuries highlight dangers

John Lee
Post-Crescent staff writer

Jan. 06, 2003

Winnegago Co, WI - A 44-year-old Tustin man died early today at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, about 12 hours after he was pulled from the west end of Lake Poygan. His identity was withheld pending the notification of relatives.

At least three other people escaped serious injury when their snowmobiles went through the ice Sunday on two area lakes, authorities said. Winnebago County sheriff’s Lt. Mike Jones said the Tustin man did not have a pulse, was not breathing and was suffering from “severe hypothermia,” when he was pulled from the lake by rescuers on the Omro-Rushford Fire Department airboat.

Jones said the man apparently had been in the water for about 15 minutes, and underwater for about four minutes.“He either hit open water or thin ice. We don’t know for sure,” Jones said. Jones said the man was found in five to seven feet of water. After being alerted by neighbors, Norman Lee and his sons, Perry and Colin, used their airboat to reach the man, who was about two miles offshore from Captain’s Cove, 9598 Welsch Road, Winneconne, a bar on Lake Poygan. The call for help came in at 1:11 p.m.“Perry got behind him and I put my arms around him and pulled him up the front of the boat. He had a pulse, but he wasn’t breathing,” said Colin Lee, who is a first responder for the Winneconne-Poygan Fire District. The two Lee brothers then performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Jones said indications are the man was alone.“We were able to get his pulse back, but we couldn’t get him back to breathing on his own,” said Colin Lee. “We couldn’t get all of the water out of his lungs.”

Gary Nelson, owner of Captain’s Cove, said ice on that lake varies widely, from about a half inch to nearly a foot.The man’s snowmobile went through the ice on the north side of Poygan. “It’s spotty,” Nelson said. “We have very good ice in the cove. We have 8 inches to 10 inches.”Otherwise, he said, there is bad ice in general on the lake. “This is not the year to be dancing around if you don’t know where you’re going.”

At 1:52 p.m. Sunday, Christopher Korth, 22, of Oshkosh, and Eric Korth, 14, of Omro, got out of Lake Butte des Morts on their own and were given a ride from the lake by a nearby resident after their snowmobiles went through thin ice between Oshkosh and Omro, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said. They were treated at the scene, but their sleds were on the bottom of the lake, Jones said. Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department officials said a man escaped injury Saturday when his snowmobile went though ice on Black Otter Lake in Hortonville.

STACY LANGLEY , The Huron Daily Tribune

December 27, 2005 - SAGINAW BAY — The airboat from the Huron County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to help in the rescue of ice fishermen stranded 1/2 mile off the Geiger Road public access site in Fairhaven Township.
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According to a press release from the Huron County Sheriff’s Office, the victim, Matthew J. Reidel, was ice fishing on Christmas Eve with friends, Aaron Eberlein and Charles Mihacsi, both of Sebewaing, when the incident occurred just before 6 p.m.

Reports from the sheriff’s office indicate that when the men began to head to shore Reidel’s snowmobile quit and both Eberlein and Mihacsi didn’t wait and continued to shore without him.

Reidel was able to contact his friends from his cellular phone, telling them he needed help. The friends returned to the ice, finding Reidel unable to move because he was wet from the rain, melting ice and was reportedly suffering from hypothermia.

According to police, the friends moved Reidel to an ice fishing shanty that had a propane heater inside. The heater was started while Mihacsi called 9-1-1 for help. Mihacsi then went back to shore to direct the rescuers to the location while Eberlein stayed in the shanty with Reidel.

When the airboat arrived, both Reidel and Eberlein were transported to shore where they were met by personnel from the Sebewaing Ambulance service. Reidel was then transported to Scheurer Hospital in Pigeon for treatment of hypothermia.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Midwest Region

August 16, 2006

Bill Thrune, Refuge Operations Specialist and Calvin Gehri, Biological Science Technician, were awarded the Citation for Exemplary Act from Service Director Dale Hall. The two were awarded this honor for their quick action and bravery in the rescue of a potential drowning victim in December 2005.

It was a cold and blustery December day when the refuge received the call from the Wisconsin 911 Dispatch Center to request assistance in rescuing an individual who had fallen through the ice on Lake Onalaska, a major backwater of the Upper Mississippi River.

Bill Thrune and Calvin Gehri quickly prepared the airboat, loaded survival gear, and drove to the landing where emergency vehicles and the news media were already present.

Thrune and Gehri were briefed on the rescue efforts. Four firefighters from the Town of Campbell outfitted in coldwater rescue gear, had already walked and crawled about 600 yards across the ice to the victim.

Thrune drove the airboat to the scene where the firefighters had brought the victim out of the water. The rescuers struggled to move the ice-encased victim onto the front deck of the airboat. Two of the firefighters accompanied Thrune back to the landing with the victim. At the landing, the victim was quickly loaded into a waiting ambulance and transported to the hospital.

Thrune returned to the scene with the airboat to collect the remaining two members of the rescue team and returned to recover the victim's boat. While Thrune operated the airboat, Gehri remained at the landing working closely with emergency response personnel and provided information to the media. Due to the efforts of many, the victim survived the accident and made a full recovery.