Stratford firefighter Craig Tibbals pilots a Sea Doo during a recent rescue drill. Jeff Holt/Register

STRATFORD — They’re sleek, they’re fast and they go where most keeled craft can’t go. The Stratford Fire Department’s new personal watercraft are expected to help save lives, too.

Launched with the help of two new $10,000 Sea Doos on loan from Gargano’s of East Haven, the jet boat program is ready to send rescuers to where the public likes to go: out on local waters.

"It enhances our ability to respond to emergencies. The speed improves our response time," said Deputy Fire Chief Jay Cybart.

Fire officials across the region said the highly maneuverable watercraft could one day make a splash in the many communities along Long Island Sound and other state waterways.

Branford Fire Chief Jack Ahern said he’s interested in acquiring personal watercraft for his department, in a town with 20 miles of coastline and plenty of boats and water-related mishaps.

Ahern’s department now uses a fireboat to navigate the coast and Thimble Islands. However, because the Branford River is shallow it’s difficult to navigate past the South Montowese Street and Indian Neck bridges.

"A Jet Ski would be suitable for a quick response," Ahern said.

While the state Department of Environmental Protection has used personal watercraft for rescue and law enforcement purposes for several summers, Stratford fire officials said they are the first in the region to train municipal employees for jet boat work.

As thousands of beach-goers and boaters congregate along Stratford’s 17 miles of coastline this summer, two town EMTS who are the only firefighters in the state specially trained for jet boat rescues will be ready, Cybart said.

Craig Tibbals, a Stratford firefighter for 16 years, and John Hertzog, a firefighter for four years, recently attended a lifeguard school in New York that taught emergency responders basic-to-advanced levels of proper use of personal watercraft.

"The personal watercraft is your lifeblood," Tibbals said. "It does the job no one else can."

Stratford Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Cassia said the vessels would be stored at fire headquarters on Main Street and the expectation is that crews will be able to move it more quickly than the department’s Zodiac boat can be launched.

"It gives us another set of craft to respond to emergencies and has great maneuverability where boats can’t get to," Cybart said.

That maneuverability comes in part from the ability to take some personal watercraft into water as shallow as four inches, while also being able to safely rescue a victim.

During a recent Stratford training session, Tibbals demonstrated rescue techniques, showing how a three-foot long sled that resembles a floating stretcher can be secured to the back of the jet boat with an elastic cord.

State Police spokesman Sgt. J. Paul Vance said any equipment that enhances water safety would be welcome. He said some states, including Rhode Island and New Jersey, train lifeguards to use jet boats in emergencies.

"We’re very interested in this because when water rescues are not successful the state dive team has to go out for recovery missions," Vance said. "We’d rather not do that this summer. Anything that can prevent us from doing that is great. It’s a gruesome task."

In Milford, Fire Chief Louis LaVecchia said he would consider jet boats, but also pointed out that the city already has rescue/fireboats docked at local marinas. Last year the department successfully responded to 41 water related emergencies, he said.

He said the department’s fireboats have a shallow draft and don’t need deep water to navigate.

"Obviously Jet Skis can go some places where the boats can’t," said LaVecchia adding the department uses inflatable boats to navigate those sections of the city’s 17 miles of coastline.

Old Saybrook Police Det. Sgt. Gean Heiney, who supervises the marine patrol there, said the department doesn’t have jet boats, because it can depend on the nearby DEP office to dispatch the craft to emergency situation.

"Any asset to save someone’s life is well worth it," Heiney said.

Brian McCready can be reached at bmccready@nhregister.com, or 876-6800.