WHEN JULIE and her three children left home for mid-week church services, the rain was lightly falling. Thirty minutes later the rain poured harder and steadily, bombarding the building’s metal roof and drowning out normal conversation. As the wind howled and lightning flashed, the service was cut short out of concerns for safety.
The dark country road was barely visible as they headed for home. Julie dialed her husband, Steve, but the call quickly dropped. Cell service was spotty. A large tree crashed into the fence on the opposite side of the road just ahead. There was no getting through.
Slowly backing the SUV, Julie opened her door to navigate the ditches, the rain drenching her and the car. The water rushing through the ditches sounded instant alarms. A security light shone on the gate to a nearby cattle farm bringing a second’s relief and allowing her to turn around. “You parted the sea for Moses, Lord. You’ll do the same for me,” she whispered.
Putting the car in drive, she eased ahead. Water, pooled in the road, pulled the car’s rear end. She quickly adjusted, but as she reached the bottom of the hill the asphalt was no longer visible. On either side of the road were deep, wooded gorges, and the road in her rearview mirror had disappeared.
“Lord, help!” she whispered, not wanting to scare her passengers.
Thunder jerked and lightning snaked while, at the exact second, a furious and frightening wind pushed them off the road. As the vehicle was flipping, Julie knew they were in water, and it was rising too quickly.
“Tyler, Callie, Ryan! Answer me! Are you ok?”
“Mama, help!”
It was the last thing she remembered hearing.
Luckily, the car behind them saw it and called for help.
THE JULY 4th celebration was winding down. As the fireworks exploded overhead, their reflection on the lake’s surface was mesmerizing. Nashville’s fireworks couldn’t hold a candle to these. The music competed with conversations. The grill was still sizzling, and the cooler was still full. It was chaotic but fun.
Ka-ploosh!
The splash was common but the scream that followed was not.
“Help! Somebody, help! Misty fell overboard, and she can’t swim!”
HE WAS here just a minute ago. Shelly’s son, Jake, loved cows. His favorite stuffed cow, Moo, was his constant companion. Moo and Jake had been in the dining room for an hour, singing along with the Old McDonald video, while she switched out the laundry.
E I E I O…no Jake and no Moo.
“Jake! Jake! Where are you, Jake!”
“Jake!”
Rushing room to room, there was no sign of Jake.
Out of the corner of her eye, Shelly noticed the back door ajar. The hills and valleys surrounding their home suddenly terrified her.
“Jake!”
Moo was on the patio, but Jake was nowhere to be found.
While the stories before are fictional, the heroes in our community are very real. Help in dire situations like these comes from the Franklin County Rescue Squad, a division of the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency (FCEMA). And while they’re services you pray you’ll never need, you’ll be thankful for the 24/7 lifesaving responses they can provide.
Swiftwater rescue is one service both on the roads and off, but with Tims Ford Lake situated within Franklin County, water rescue is at the heart of many of the public services provided by the squad. And with the summer boating season approaching, the all-volunteer team will be on standby to respond to the community’s needs.
“Public service on the lake is one of our primary focuses. We keep a pontoon boat, a big diesel towboat, and a patrol boat on the water in the summer. We respond to water-related incidents – boating accidents, recovering vessels, drowning victims, motor assistance,” said FCEMA Director Scott Smith.
Water safety promotion is high on the list of services provided by the agency and the squad. Boating tragedy on the waters is a sad reality. The diving team searches for the missing, bringing closure to families waiting anxiously on the shore.
It’s heavy work, physically and mentally. With nearly 100 pounds of gear, divers enter cold, pitch-black waters searching for humans, light salvage, and evidence collection. The team closely monitors the diver’s respiration from the shore and assists the diver’s exit from the waters.
Helping at home and in the surrounding communities, the Franklin County Rescue Squad responds to emergencies in surrounding counties as well, both on land and in the water.
On land, K-9 Operations teams search for missing or lost persons.
The team’s bloodhounds are trained to follow a person’s unique scent over extended periods and varying and challenging terrain.
One of the ways to assist the team is by preparing for an emergency before it arises. The agency provides free Scent Preservation Kits for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients and patients who are on the autism spectrum. With the tools in the kit, scent samples are created and stored together with answers to questions that will guide rescuers and save precious time searching for a missing loved one.
Squad members are unpaid volunteers sacrificing their time for the safety of those around them, both in response events and training events. Their commitment to the community’s safety often takes precedence over time with family and friends. On-call at all times, they show up and suit up for whatever is necessary to bring assistance to those in need.
We hope and pray we’ll never need the rescue squad’s services. Still, we are thankful for their dedication, training, and commitment to keeping us safe on the land and in water. -GN
