HARDCORE OUTDOOR-OUTDOOR GEAR RECOMMENDATIONS-BEST BOOTS, SLEEPING BAGS, BINOCULARS, JACKETS, STOVES: Hero - Construction Worker Rescues Woman From River

Hero - Construction Worker Rescues Woman From River

A classic image of one hand reaching out to help another. Construction worker Jason Olgesbee is lowered by crane to rescue a woman that went over the Center Street Dam in Des Moines. A man that was with her drowned.  Joe Lowe operated the crane. Well done boys. Strong work!

There are two words in the English language of which I am particularly leery. One is "expert" and the other is "hero". Fact is that, most times, the objects of those terms qualify as neither.  This is one of those situations where "hero" really fits.

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger certainly rates the title of hero in my opinion but as he has so graciously said many times, he and his Crew were just doing the job they were trained to do. Yea, that might be true but there are many times when the people trained for emergencies fail to act. However, guys like Lenny Skutnik and Jason Olgesbee (pictured above) were not just doing their job. They are not specially trained to do what they did.  They just did it because it had to be done and in so doing, a life was saved.

Now, I am a Certified Swiftwater Rescue Technician/Instructor and have some first hand experience in water rescue work. For emergency services it is a training and equipment intensive, johnny on the spot kind of a scenario. If you are not in the right place at the right time with the right people and the right equipment the operation turns from rescue to body recovery. Quickly. They are deadly incidents. In fact, more times than not, water rescue incidents take the lives of rescuers as well. This one was especially bad because it involved a low head dam which creates a hydraulic or "keeper" just down stream of the dam itself. Just like the name implies, it keeps whatever it catches and beats it up with a continuous cycle of violent dunking, tumbling, and spitting out. The only good thing about the scene that I can see in the video is that the weather is warm and it is daytime. It is clear, if you recognize it, that the woman didn't have much time left.  It was literally life or death. Now or never.

I don't know the intimate details of this mission but I would love to have been a fly on the wall at the after action debrief. I am sure that there are some Chiefs and City Council members asking why a construction worker with a make shift rig and a buddy running a crane were able to pull this off and the guys with the BRTs were not.  Look folks, it worked...this time. The woman is alive thanks to a courageous, can do bunch of guys with means. How about we just leave it at that.

What I loved most about this was that Olgesbee, when interviewed by the real man starved media jamokes, didn't want to say much more then it was a team effort and he was glad he could help. Nice. Congrats Jason and Joe.

EDITORS NOTE: OK, all you Swiftwater Techs can stop emailing me. I know he doesn't have a helmet on but at least he is wearing a PFD, not a good one but it is a PFD. And no, I do not know what the chain harness is rated.

Thanks.

Wade Nelson
Editor

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