It was just a little after midnight Feb. 1 when off-duty Prince George’s County firefighter Rachel Edney heard a woman crying out for help as she ran along a dock on South River in Anne Arundel County. The woman’s husband had fallen into the frigid water. Edney, 23, came to the 61-year-old man’s rescue.
What happened next?
The man was holding onto the piling, and it was clear he couldn’t pull himself out. I jumped into the water, grabbed both his legs and held him above the water. I then helped him swim to a boat at the end of the dock, and other people helped pull him out of the water.
It must have been cold.
It was really cold. At first I didn’t really think about it and I didn’t realize how cold it was right away. I was freezing by the time I got out.
Is this something you had training in?
Not really. I knew we just needed to get him out of the cold water.
As a female firefighter, do you ever have trouble getting respect from the men?
Not ever. There are more women in the fire department now, and everyone is pretty much treated the same. … I grew up with all my friends being guys, and I was a tomboy. There was some skepticism when I got into the fire department. When you first start, the men don’t know what kind of girl you are — they may think you’re there just because you think firefighters are cute — but if you do the job well, then everyone is treated the same. You have to make sure everyone knows you’re there to do your job.
