Press Release 1

Evanston firefighter uses training to rescue woman from icy pond

January 5, 2010

By Bob Seidenberg bseidenberg@pioneerlocal.com

Evanston firefighter-paramedic Jennifer LoBianco had to use her persuasive skills to save a woman who had fallen through some ice while following her dog onto a retention pool on Northwestern University's campus early Sunday morning.

LoBianco reached the woman about 40 feet from shore, clinging on to some ice in the frigid waters. The woman's dog, a golden retriever, was out another 10 feet, precariously balancing himself on a sheet of ice. “She wanted me to get her dog,” recalled LoBianco. “I told her I couldn't do that till I got her to shore. I said her best interest to save the dog was to come with me, and then when I took her to shore, I could go back and get her dog.”

LoBianco lived up to her promise, bringing the woman to shore, then swimming back to save the dog. Both the woman, whom officials didn't identify, and the dog survived the ordeal, officials said.

Fire Department officials are marveling at how well their training came together in the rescue operation. The retention pond, where the incident occurred, near the university's soccer field, was the site of training efforts six years ago where LoBianco and other members of the department's ice water rescue team donned their mustard colored high buoyancy suits and practiced cutting holes in the ice and other rescue methods, said Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky.

LoBianco and other members of the department's Ice Surface Rescue Team also receive classroom training, going over the rules and what to look for once on the scene, Berkowsky said.

“Obviously, the training paid off,” he said Monday.

LoBianco, 33, an eight-year member of the department, was on duty at Station 3, 1105 Central, on Sunday morning when a call came in about 8 a.m. for a water rescue. The call came into Northwestern University by a passer-by, officials said, using one of the blue-light emergency call boxes on campus.

Berkowsky said the victim, a woman in her 50s and an Evanston resident, was walking her dog, not on a leash, on the north end of campus, behind the Allen Center, “and apparently her dog ran on to the ice after something,” Berkowsky said, “and the ice broke and she fell.”

He said the dog fell about 45 to 50 feet out. He said the dog's owner went to retrieve the dog and was about 10 feet from the dog, on the ice, when the ice broke on her.”

LoBianco suited up at the station in what is referred to as a “Mustang” suit. The department's rig couldn't make it to the scene along the narrow bike paths, “so I hopped in one of the NU squad cars and they took me to the scene,“ she said.

She said NU police and bystanders were at the shore line, trying to coax the woman back to shore. “The bystanders said we had to hurry because the woman was delirious and she wasn't making sense,” she said.

The woman was clothed, in a full length coat, head band, and had apparently run on to the ice, leaving her gloves on shore. She was trying to reach her dog. “If she had, it probably would have been bad,” LoBianco said. “They probably would have both gone down.”

“She was over her head,” she said about conditions. “I don't know how deep the water was out there. I couldn't touch the bottom,” the 5-foot-3 LoBianco said.

Once she brought the woman safely to shore, she then swam out to save the dog, calling his name, Sherman, as she approached and attempted to get him in her grip.

“He had no problem coming back with me,” she said.

The incident over, “I went back to the station, ate breakfast and carried on with my day,” she said matter-of-factly. “That's what we all do.”