PHOTOs: Coast Guardsmen practice ice rescue in the dark

BAY CITY, Mich. - Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Travis Ruterbusch (wearing the tan jacket) tells a Coast Guard ice rescue team where a person fell through the ice on Lake Huron during night-time ice rescue training in Bay City Jan. 27, 2011.

The training is part of a four-day school where Coast Guard men and women come to the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., to learn the proper techniques for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

BAY CITY, Mich. - Coast Guardsmen use a parachute illumination flare to light a search area on ice and snow-covered Lake Huron to help them find a person who fell through the ice as part of a night time training exercise Jan. 27, 2011.

The training is part of a four-day school where men and women come from various units throughout the Coast Guard to the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., to learn the proper techniques for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

BAY CITY, Mich. - A Coast Guardsman drags a rescue sled to a man who fell through the ice on Lake Huron near the Bay City Recreation Area as part of a night time training exercise Jan. 27, 2011.

The training is part of a four-day school where Coast Guard men and women come to the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., to learn the proper techniques for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

BAY CITY, Mich. - Coast Guardsmen practice proper ice rescue techniques in the dark during a training exercise near the Bay City Recreation Area Jan. 27, 2011.

Night time training is important because the majority of ice-rescue cases happen at night, and responders who have to locate and rescue a person who fell through the ice at night are faced with additional obstacles.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

BAY CITY, Mich. - A Coast Guard ice rescue team uses a rescue sled to pull a man out of the water after he fell through the ice on Lake Huron as part of a night time training exercise Jan. 27, 2011.

The training is part of a four-day school where Coast Guard men and women come to the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., to learn the proper techniques for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen

BAY CITY, Mich. - Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Bell (right) provides feedback to a team of Coast Guard ice rescuers who had just pulled him out of a hole on the ice and snow-covered Lake Huron during night-time ice rescue training in Bay City Jan. 27, 2011.

The training is part of a four-day school where Coast Guard men and women come to the Ice Capabilities Center of Excellence at Station Saginaw River in Essexville, Mich., where Bell is an instructor, to learn the proper techniques for rescuing people on ice-covered bodies of water.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Lauren Jorgensen