Last week, Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS added a new certification to a continually growing list — this time, the water rescue certification.

“It was a total of about 60 hours of training that they did in the classroom, at the aquatics center and in the river,” said Fire Chief Robbie Rose.

Ten members of Washington’s department teamed up with those of various volunteer fire departments in the county for the Beaufort County Community College-sponsored training that took them out into the Pamlico to train both day and night. Capt. Jonathan Hardin, Lt. Doug Bissette, Firefighter/EMT Brent Hamilton, FF/EMT Justin Burnette, Capt. R.M. Flowers, FF/EMT Chris Boyd, FF/EMT William Rushton, Capt. Jeremy Wetherington, Engineer Brian Lilley and FF/EMT Robbie Cox all received individual certifications that add up to more than the minimum required for the department’s certification from the North Carolina Association of Rescue and Emergency Medical Services.

“We’re continually trying to train and prepare ourselves the best we can to protect the community we live in,” Rose said.

In the past year, Washington’s department earned its designation as a medium rescue squad. They’ve learned the ropes — sometimes literally, in the case of the high angle rescue certification they’ve been working toward — of more advanced rescue situations. But for Rose, the water rescue training is a must in coastal Carolina.

“Of course, we live on the Pamlico River and we’re surrounded by water,” Rose explained. “If we’re going to be performing those types of rescues, we want an accreditation and we want our people trained to the standards of doing that job.”

Case in point, Rose described a recent rescue of a man who found himself on a sinking jet ski in the waters off the Washington waterfront. In addition to flood rescues, those are the types of rescues the fire department trained for: people in distress on the water.

“It’s a reality in the area we live in,” Rose said.

Rose added that all Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS firefighters are state-certified firefighters and state-certified rescue techs.