MANCHESTER – Firefighters rescued a woman who had lowered herself from an embankment into the Merrimack River at 780 N. Commercial Street Thursday shortly after noon.
She was first noticed by an employee of Eversource along the edge of the Merrimack River, acting strangely and throwing her shoes and other items into the river.
On arrival, Engine 3 was notified that the subject had lowered herself into the water from the embankment. Engine 3 established Incident Command and called for additional resources for a swift-water rescue operation.
Companies responded and launched two jet-powered swift-water boats in an attempt to make contact from the Fisher Cat’s Stadium ramp.
Due to the location of the patient, companies set up a rope system to access the woman and secure her before she was swept off the rock she was holding on to. This was complicated by her mental state and her inability to cooperate.
A member maintained contact with the distraught woman, calmly talking to hold her attention while another member rappelled over the edge of the embankment. The two of them quickly made contact and gained control of the patient as the team of rescuers raised them from the water onto the riverbank. The patient was secured into a stokes basket and raised over the 25-foot cement wall with Truck 1’s aerial platform.
She was then transferred to AMR and transported to the hospital for medical evaluation.