CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. — In March, a team from the N.C. Highway Patrol took part in swift water rescue training.

What You Need To Know

  • FTCC’s Swift Water Training Facility has been providing water rescue skills since January

  • About 900 firemen and first responders from North Carolina and other states have gotten that training

  • Forty hours of training is provided over four to five days

In a Facebook post on Thursday, NCHP said its team has conducted over 300 rescues and welfare checks in western North Carolina in response to Helene.

That team got some special training at the Swift Water Rescue Training Facility at Fayetteville Technical Community College.

“The bad thing about being out there in floods and stuff is you just don’t know what’s inside the water,” Sgt. Sean Johnson said. “You could be near a chain link fence … barbed wire, something like that. You end up getting cut or something like that or a fire hydrant.”

On Thursday, another group made up of 23 firefighters and first responders from around the state trained at Hope Mills Lake. One of those trainees was Justin Langdon, who has been with Smithfield’s Fire Department for five months.

Before he got this swift water rescue training in Cumberland County, Langdon has previously helped save a life by rescuing a kayaker who was lost in the dark.

“It was challenging but we made do,” he said. “We had a great outcome. Sometimes you don’t have that in this situation.”

Stephen White is the lead instructor for FTCC’s Swift Water Rescue Training Facility.

“This is going to be an all-hands-on-deck situation for western North Carolina for some time,” White said.