In October 2004 the members of the Potomac River Rescue Association in conjuntion with the tugboat “Capt. Tom” of Salisbury Towing conducted a Response Drill on the Potomac River. “The Drill” centered around the tugboat “Capt. Tom” being struck by a recreational vessel resulting in persons in the water and a raging fire aboard the tugboat. The Response Drill was to involve a triage of patients, Rescue and Recovery as-well-as a transport by boat to land based Rescue Units awaiting their arrival at Leesylvania State Park. In the drill, over 100 rescuers from Maryland, Virginia, to include the US Coast Guard, would all respond and test the inter-operability of fire and rescue units from multiple jurisdictions to an incident taking place on the Potomac.The “incident command system” and communication systems were all tested and evaluated. Over a dozen response vessels were involved including three tow boats from Potomac Marine TowBoatU.S.. “All-in-all, the drill went well, with all victims having been recovered, the missing vessel found and secured, as-well-as the fire onboard the tugboat having been promptly extinguished,” said Captain Terry Hill, Owner/Operator of Potomac Marine TowBoatU.S. “Valuable lessons were taken from the exercise which will be integrated into the response protocols of the various reponders. Even the crew members aboard the ‘Capt. Tom’ were incorporated into the drill, to reinforce their many onboard procedures and training as well, and we have already scheduled plans for additional response drill scenarios to take place on the river early in the new year.”

The Potomac River Rescue Association (PRRA) is an informal colaborative effort involving over 60 agencies and counties which provide fire,rescue, law enforcement, and towing salvage services on the Potomac river. This mutual cooperation and working relationship effort on the part of the actual responders has led to improved response times, personel, and equiptment in the Northern Virginia, Maryland, & D.C. metropolitan waterways. To date we have 3 new state-of-the-art Fire & Rescue vessels in the area with several more on order. In addition to this every unit has upgraded its equiptment with gear such as night vision and forward looking infared cameras, and radio direction finders. All of which is beneficial in locating lost persons. As recently as November the units of Fairfax boat 420, Prince William/ OWL VFD boat 512, Charles County boat 8, Fairfax police helicopter and Potomac Marine TowBoatU.S. responded to two persons in the water, thrown from their fishing boat. The two individuals were flown to Fairfax Hospital with one in very serious condition, suffering from hypothermia and having suffered a heart attack. He was later released after a couple of weeks.

All of our responses do not turn out as well. The PRRA encouages all boaters to wear a PFD, carry a cell phone, and let someone know your “Float Plan”(plan for your trip), and please boat safely.