Gary McQuaide

River Rescue Manager

John Porada

River Rescue Specialist

The River Rescue Section of the Special Operations Division is responsible for all aspects of water rescue at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The River Rescue Section consists of two full time civilian employees; a River Rescue Manager and a River Rescue Specialist.  The River Rescue Manager and Specialist are responsible for the overall coordination of training, apparatus and equipment maintenance and staffing of the boats.  The River Rescue Manager reports directly to the Deputy Fire Chief at Reagan National.

Current apparatus includes six boats and a boat support unit.  The River Rescue Section also maintains an inventory of Ice Commander dry suits, Mustang cold water exposure suits, and personal flotation devices for River Rescue personnel as well as additional responders, twelve 10-person life rafts and four 30’ life ramps.  In addition, they maintain a supply of basic hand tools, emergency medical services equipment, rescue blankets and basic aircraft and watercraft recovery equipment.

During peak aircraft operations hours, River Rescue personnel are present to ensure staffing for immediate boat response and water rescue operations. River Rescue personnel are also responsible for completing daily readiness inspections of the vessels to ensure operational readiness.  Staffing is supplemented by Fire & Rescue Department Firefighter/Technicians trained as Water Rescue Technicians.  Fire Station-301 minimum staffing includes a minimum of one Water Rescue Technician.

All personnel assigned to River Rescue must undergo an eighty hour in house training program facilitated by the River Rescue Manager.  This program teaches navigation rules and aids to navigation, personal flotation devices and other personal protective equipment, nautical rope skills, basic water survival training, boat launching and recovery, boat trailering operations, vessel maneuvering, navigation, radar operations, chart plotting and reading, victim recovery, vessel towing and area waterway familiarization.  The course ensures personnel competency in both daytime and nighttime environments.  These skills are performed with all vessels in the River Rescue fleet.

All Fire & Rescue Department personnel are trained as boat crew members.  These personnel are trained to assist with victim recovery, basic vessel maneuvering skills and to assist with launching and recovery of vessels.  They may also serve as lookouts and as deckhands during boat operations.

The current River Rescue fleet operates out of the South Boathouse and the North Boathouse; both of which are located directly on the Potomac River.