Washington County Emergency Management (WCEM) seeks reimbursement for swift water boat operation classes that they participated in over the summer.

WCEM Director Kary Cox says the first course saw a shared cost between Washington County, Oglesby Fire and Ramona Fire. He says they participated in a second course because there was a high demand for the training.

Once the course was through, Cox says they discovered that the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) program had a special project fund that they could tap into to help them pay for the second class. He says each class costs $5,500.

Cox says there was great benefit from the classes as there are at least 45 trained swift water boat operators and five rescue boats in Washington County now. He says there is plenty of personnel across the County that they can call on for flood operations and water rescues.

The swift water rescue that was performed in 2019 at Hogshooter Creek in Washington County spawned the need to have this training. Cox says the course was designed for this exact type of rescue.

The Washington County Commissioners unanimously approved this reimbursement request on Monday. The request will be sent to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.