Emergency personnel and law enforcement authorities did not have the necesssary equipment to save the life of a drowning victim at Milford Lake
Geary County Commission Chairman Ben Bennett confirmed emergency personnel did arrive at the scene on time, but couldn’t get to Hedrick who was stuck on an ice sheet out on the lake, before eventually falling through. “They just couldn’t get to him. The helicopter was our Life Star helicopter.” Bennett added, “Nobody’s got a rescue helicopter here at this time. There are some available, but getting them here was an impossibility by the time that he fell through the ice.”
Bennett noted it was difficult in getting assistance to save Hedrick, and also in the still ongoing effort to try and recover his body, “because of the ice, and the cold and the wind, and the lack of proper equipment to do something of that nature.” The Commissioner stated, “We’ve got a pretty good system for taking care of accidents, and water accidents for the majority of the camping and swimming and boating and fishing here, but we don’t have much for this time of year, because we haven’t had a call for it.
Bennett estimated the victim was located about 200 yards from the shore in one direction, and 300 yards in another direction. “One of the things that this has done is made us realize that if there is an incident in weather like this we weren’t prepared for it. ” Bennett added he has been here nearly 50 years, and the lake was filled up in 1965. “They’ve had some winter incidents but not something like this before.”
The County Commission has agreed to allow use of surplus funds to purchase a specially made boat ( banana boat ) from a company in Wisconsin that could be used for a rescue in that type of situation in the future. The City will also be asked for that approval.
According to Bennett the victim had gotten into a homemade boat made of barrel and Styrofoam, but wasn’t able to control it. The wind blew it across a cove into an ice pack, and the boat began to sink. Hedrick crawled out of the boat onto the ice, no one was able to get to him, and he fell through the ice and drowned.