The number of water rescues continues to climb in Calgary as the mercury does too.
On Monday after 5 p.m., the Calgary Fire Department responded to Harvie Passage, saying bystanders pulled an unconscious man to shore after witnesses reported that he was struggling in the water.
Bystanders, including two off-duty firefighters, started CPR. When fire crews arrived, they took over CPR, used a defibrillator and administered oxygen. EMS took the man to hospital but CFD did not provide details about his condition.
As the unconscious man was loaded into the ambulance, CFD said its aquatics crew saw a boy in a pool floatie, who was not wearing a life-jacket, capsize in the river near Harvie Passage.
He was dragged further downstream by the strong current, the CFD said, and the aquatics team was able to pull him from the water and bring him to shore.
“The Calgary Fire Department has responded to many water rescue incidents in recent days, especially since the Calgary temperatures have started to climb and citizens are looking for a place to cool off,” the CFD said in a news release, advising people to be prepared with the “right equipment, correct information and appropriate skill level.”
“Please remember, where there is water, there is risk.”
Earlier on Monday, a girl was pulled from Calgary’s Mahogany Lake and airlifted to hospital after jumping into the water and not resurfacing.