Winter weather means freezing waters, which means potential danger to the unsuspecting person.
Should someone find themselves trapped under a frozen body of water -- firefighters want to be ready.
"Our primary concern is getting them out of the water before they lost consciousness," said instructor Jamie Van Iterson.
Every year, Yakima firefighters conduct ice water rescue training.
Unlike any other time of the year, winter waters pose different threats to the human body -- body temperatures dropping and muscles giving out to the cold.
"You could drown easily within a few minutes," said Yakima Fire Captain Jeff Pfaff.
In the winter, every one of those minutes count -- rescue teams give themselves about an hour to get victims from the water to the hospital.
Training keeps mistakes to a minimum, in the end, saving more time.
"This is just another one of the aspects we do," said Van Iterson, "It's very important that we maintain those skills so that when we get the call, we're not second-guessing, we're proficient and efficient in our jobs in getting people out as soon as we can."