Pella Community Ambulance and the Pella Fire Department underwent special winter training this weekend.

Twenty first responders took part in a special ice rescue course on Saturday at a pond north of Pella.

EMT Dan Turner tells KNIA/KRLS News rescuers wore special safety gear and were placed in the water to practice extracting a person from a frozen body of water. He says practicing this type of rescue is critical.

The training was conducted by Professional Rescue Services out of Des Moines.

caption id=”attachment_267234″ align=”aligncenter” width=”960″]Photo from Pella Ambulance[/caption]