A Very Close Call Rescue Mission
The team made a search of the area as soon as they reached with the rescue team and checked the ice thickness. Immediately apparent here was that standard rescue techniques would not work here; no one could walk on this thin ice- neither he who’s carrying equipment, nor bringing the dog himself- if no one could walk on the ice to get there. He’d have to be creative and be courageous enough to plan the rescue of the dog from this unsafe place.
The rescuers then discussed possible strategies, which carried inherent risks. Reaching the dog on foot was dismissed almost outright, and even more conventional apparatus, such as boats or rescue platforms, seemed too risky to use. Still, all this notwithstanding, the team remained focused on saving the dog. One of the rescuers, with experience in ice rescues, proposed a creative plan: he would spread his weight out on a much larger surface area by way of a sled so that he could inch forward to the dog without applying more than he could bear to any one spot on the ice.
This was a very skilled, composed approach, but the team agreed this was the best they could hope for. They lashed a long rope to the sled, and those on shore were ready to pull him and the dog back to safety. With that plan in place, they set it all in motion, and the crowd held its collective breath as the rescuer, lying flat on the sled, started out across the ice to the dog stranded out there. This is indeed one of those intense moments: demonstration of both courage and accuracy of operation in the making of an effective ice rescue.
