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A different kind of rescue watercraft (Page 2)

By: Robert Dummett
Marine Services Bureau
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Dept.
Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA

Deployment: Launching - No water necessary

An advantage of using airboats for water or ice-rescue operations is that no designated launch site is needed. An airboat’s design makes it capable of being launched almost anywhere, regardless of the presence of water or a wet surface. An airboat, equipped with an adequate power plant and a polymer clad bottom, is capable of running on dry ground, even with a full payload.

When being deployed for emergency operations, an airboat can be run directly off its trailer, across dry ground, mud, ice or snow, down an embankment and out onto the body of water or ice with minimal launch time. This capability also makes launching a one-man operation, while being expedient.

Payload

Comparing vessels in length, width and carrying capacity, airboats have a much greater payload than do hovercraft or inflatables, while still maintaining the ability to traverse shallow water or ice.

A 16-18 foot aluminum hull airboat, powered by a large block automotive engine, can have a 2,200–2,800 pound load capacity and carry up to 12 people. The same size airboat, specifically designed for search and rescue operation, can accommodate up to four immobilized patients on backboards or in stokes baskets, in addition to the crew and rescue equipment.

Unloaded and under ideal operating conditions, an airboat can travel up to 45-60 mph across water. Carrying a full load, an airboat can be maneuvered over sandbars, dense aquatic vegetation, across mud flats, dry ground and even climb hills.

An airboat is powered by a flow of air, generated by an aircraft style propeller, rotated by either an automotive or aircraft engine. The airflow is directed rearward passing by two vertical rudders that provide steering for the vessel. Like an aircraft, an airboat has only one direction of travel and that is forward. There is no reverse and no brakes on an airboat. However, an experienced airboat operator can turn an airboat on a dime and come to a complete stop within 20 to 30 feet travel at a speed of 30 mph.

Reliability

In years past, airboats have been considered unstable and top heavy vessels with an inherent ability to easily capsize and sink. Those characteristics caused them to be viewed as impractical for deep, open water or swiftwater use. Recent technology has addressed those issues and has resolved those problems, making airboats extremely practical vessels for search and rescue application.

Automotive engines installed on many new airboats make them extremely reliable and easily worked on by anyone with minimal mechanical ability. Automobile engines used on modern airboats range from 60 horsepower Volkswagen engines to the over 600 horsepower, electronic ignition, fuel-injected marine engines. However, the most common and practical automobile engines for a SAR airboat are the Chevrolet 350, 454, 502 or the new 496 cubic inch engines. Matched to the appropriate sized airboat hull, those engines provide both excellent service and reliability.

Automobile engines on airboats require no special parts. Engine parts can be obtained at a local auto parts store. Also, automobile engines require no special fuel. The fuel for an airboat equipped with an automobile engine can be obtained at any gasoline service station. Other than routine maintenance, airboats require no special care. Their uncomplicated design and operational components lend to their easy upkeep.

Every automobile engine installed in an airboat must be equipped with a gear reduction unit to achieve the maximum performance from the engine. This is where modern technology has eliminated the traditional top-heavy characteristic of airboats.

Airboats used for search and rescue operations can now be equipped with what is referred to as a “long-belt gear reduction drive unit.” This mechanism allows the automobile engine to be mounted to the interior hull of the boat, eliminating the high center of gravity that previously contributed to the airboat’s instability. With the airboat’s engine mounted on the bottom deck of the hull, the airboat is capable of operation in extremely rough water conditions, without the risk of capsizing, making it a perfect vessel for search and rescue operations. In addition, the long-belt gear reduction drive unit increases the handling and performance of the airboat. However, let it not be misunderstood that airboats are simple vessels to operate. No different from any other piece of equipment used in emergency services, only formally trained and qualified persons should operate airboats and perform their maintenance.

Innovations and adaptations

Innovated fire departments have mounted fire pumps and nozzles on their airboats to fight fires on islands, to maneuver into shallow marinas to fight boat fires and to extinguish building fires during flooding. In April of 1997, the City of Grand Forks, North Dakota lost two entire blocks of its downtown business district due the inability of firefighters to reach and extinguish a fire that occurred during a flood, when the Red River rose and overflowed its banks. The Celeron Fire Department, New York recently purchased an 18-foot airboat with a 500 gallon per minute deckgun mounted on its bow.

When mounted on a trailer, an airboat is nothing more than a big fan on wheels. Fire departments have been known to deploy their airboats during large structure fires and toxic gas leaks for ventilation purposes. The large aircraft like propeller generates a positive pressure airflow unmatched by conventional positive pressure devices. The airflow produced by an airboat propeller provides outstanding performance evacuating smoke from large warehouse fires.

Winter rescue operations

Every winter when the lakes, rivers, streams and ponds become covered with ice airboats prove their value. Traditionally, ice rescue operations have been long and laborious events. It has been routinely reported that ice-rescue operations, that would normally require 45 to 60 minutes to execute, have been reduced to 7-12 minutes through the use of an airboat.

During the winter of 2002-03, the Fox Lake Fire Rescue Department, Fox Lake, Illinois was credited with saving 16 people with the use of their airboat. Fox Lake’s average victim retrieval time of 15 minutes was reduced to a mere 6 minutes through the use of their airboat, according to The Daily Herald, Feb. 28, 2003.

Other fire departments that have experienced such dramatic accomplishments are the Wonder Lake Fire Protection District, Illinois, the Lake Geneva Fire Dept., Wisconsin, the Stevens Point Fire Dept., Wisconsin, the Conneaut Fire and Rescue Dept., Ohio, and the Lambertville/New Hope Rescue Squad, New Jersey, to mention only a few.

Lt. Todd Rishling, Water Rescue and Dive Team leader of the Wonder Lake Fire Protection District, is a staunch believer in the merits of an airboat for ice-rescue operations. Lt. Rishling stated, "Our boat has taken away the ‘WORK’ involved in ice-rescue's, we have reduced a 30-45 minute rescue down to 5 minutes. By doing so, we have also maximized the victim’s survivability."

The Wonder Lake Fire Protection District put their custom-built, 18-foot, aluminum hull airboat into service during the winter of 2001. Within a few days of delivery, Wonder Lake was called upon to put their new boat into operation. The call was for a snowmobiler that had fallen through the ice on Wonder Lake.

“Our first rescue with our airboat allowed an injured snowmobile rider to be quickly picked up and transported back to the shore in less than 4 minutes," stated Lt. Rishling.

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