Tulsa Firefighters Sharpen Water Rescue Skills

Over the next three days the Tulsa Fire Department will take part in an annual intensive water rescue training.

It's happening at Skiatook Point on Skiatook Lake. On Tuesday, they're focusing on learning how to operate inflatable rescue boats and refreshing themselves on how to rescue people with them.

By going over these tactics, they'll be able to successfully get people out of the water quickly and efficiently during emergency situations.

"Water rescues are low-frequency, high-risk rescues, and we don't get to be in the water a lot so were out practicing," said R.B. Ellis, rescue coordinator for Tulsa Fire Department.

Another thing they're refreshing themselves on is how to operate a sonar system.

The reason they wanted to do the training now is because of the elevated lake levels and the recent warm weather.

In total, 20 firefighters are taking part in this each day.

The training will wrap up on Thursday.