GREEN RIVER — It wasn’t something the Green River Fire Department (GRFD) was expecting to respond to this early in the year, but they were ready to complete a water rescue when they needed to Monday.
GRFD Assistant Fire Chief Bill Robinson said on May 25, around 5:40 pm, the GRFD responded to the Green River near Flaming Gorge Rock to rescue a woman in the river. By the time the rescue team could remove the woman from the river, she had been in it for more than 2 hours.
Robinson said a woman, in her 20s, who was from out of the area, was tubing down the Green River when she fell off of her tube and got hung up in some driftwood near Flaming Gorge Rock.
Robinson said the department’s water-rescue team worked quickly to rescue the woman who was suffering from a leg injury and early stages of hypothermia. When the team arrived, the woman told them she was too cold to move anymore.
One part of the team positioned themselves upstream to help the woman, while a second group went downstream to catch the woman in case she couldn’t hold the driftwood anymore, according to Robinson. A third group remained on the shoreline to assist in the rescue operations from there.
The team from the shore waded through the cold water toward the woman. When they reached her, they quickly placed a personal floatation device, also known as a life jacket or life vest, around the woman, he said. They also put a helmet on her to prevent any head injuries.
Once all the safety gear was on the woman, the rescue team grabbed and pulled her from the piece of driftwood. The group then made their way toward the river bank. Robinson said it was at this point where one of the water rescue team members and the woman let go of the rope and floated to the rescue team downstream. He said that was all part of the plan. They felt this would be a safer option for the woman and team.
When the woman made it safely out of the river, she was immediately cared for by the Castle Rock Ambulance personnel. Robinson said the woman was then transported to the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County where she was treated for hypothermia and minor injures before she being released.
Setting up the rescue. 
Waiting downstream. Photos courtesy of the Green River Fire Department 
All safe!
Looking back on the rescue, Robinson said the woman was lucky.
“If that driftwood hadn’t been there, this could have been a different situation,” Robinson said.
According to Robinson, the water-rescue team usually responses to six to 12 water rescue calls each year, but usually not this early in the season when the water is still cold. With temperatures starting to warm up, Robinson knows more residents and out-of-town visitors will seek the Green River for relief from the heat.
“I know we’ll be back out there,” Robinson said.
Robinson wanted to thank the Castle Rock Ambulance, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and Flaming Gorge Rock for working together quickly to save the woman.
Robinson said it was a team effort.
This is an update to a post we shared on our Facebook page Monday.
