Two men were hypothermic when they were rescued Sunday morning after the utility terrain vehicle they were riding in broke through ice on Bartlett Stream in Searsmont, according to the Maine Warden Service.
The crash happened shortly before 10:30 a.m. near 191 Belfast-Augusta Road, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.
Game Warden Chris Dyer responded to the scene and found the two men standing waist deep in water on top of a Can-Am 1000 UTV, Latti said Monday. Similar to all-terrain vehicles, UTVs are larger, more powerful and able to seat passengers side by side.
Dyer and Waldo County Sheriff’s Deputy Travis Spencer tossed a lifejacket and rope to the men and pulled them through the water to safety.
The men were hypothermic after spending more than 30 minutes in the icy water, Latti said. They told rescue workers they had snowmobiled in that area of the frozen stream just a few days before.
“Ice conditions can change quickly, particularly on waters where there is any type of current,” Dyer said. “Be careful and check the ice before venturing out onto the ice.”
Symptoms of hypothermia include abnormally low body temperature, shivering, exhaustion, confusion, slurred speech and lack of coordination, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Emergency medical workers treated the men at the scene before they headed home, Latti said. The UTV was removed from the stream later Sunday by Lang Family Recovery of Lincolnville.
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