'When is it safe to go out on Mendenhall Lake?' CCFR says never
- Jasz Garrett
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
First patient of the year breaks through ice on Tuesday evening, receives treatment for hypothermia
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
The fire department’s first patient of the year broke through the ice on Mendenhall Lake on Tuesday evening. Fire Chief Rich Etheridge said the patient was able to self-rescue and was treated for hypothermia.
“They were able to get out of the water and off the ice on their own,” Etheridge said. “The 911 call came while they were standing next to their vehicle, extremely cold, and our crews went out there and worked on warming them and then transported them to get evaluated.”
He said it hasn’t been cold long enough and there are plenty of thin pieces of ice where it is easy to fall through. But Etheridge said Capital City Fire/Rescue never recommends going out onto the lake and the department responds all winter to similar cases.
“Going through the ice at the glacier is not an uncommon thing to happen,” he said.
It can take a rescuer at least 20-25 minutes to reach the lake, with responders coming from the Glacier Fire Station in the Mendenhall Valley. Then they have to make their way across the lake. Each minute that goes by only increases someone’s risk for hypothermia.
“Hypothermia closes down all your body systems and then one of the other big dangers is trying to warm up, you can actually cause cardiac arrest, going into respiratory failure,” Etheridge said. “You can also get frostbite from being wet and out in those freezing temperatures. Frostbite, you can lose fingers and toes or have permanent nerve damage.”
Treatment includes slowly warming someone up, starting warm IVs, and, in critical cases, the hospital can pump warm fluids down someone’s stomach. The chief said the key is warming a person up, but not so quickly that “you shock the body.” Etheridge said knowing how to self-rescue and having people with you can make all the difference.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
