First responders offer water rescue tips

Having a car end up in the water is relatively uncommon, but it's still good to be prepared. We talked with Robb Couture of the South Portland Fire Department about what you should know if you ever end up in a similar situation.

"When that car inititally goes into the water, it floats for a period of time," Couture said. "During that time there's a pretty good chance that the windows and doors are still functioning. If that's the case the best thing to do is exit the vehicle quickly before that pressure overcomes your ability to open the door. Once the water comes up to a certain level, you're not going to be able to open the door or roll the window down. That's the case in both electric and regular windows because of the pressure. So the only thing to do then is wait for the pressure to equalize and break out a window. Blunt objects are not going to break automotive glass, like a cellphone, or keys."

Couture says there are small devices that fit on a key chain that put high pressure onto a very small surface area. Doing that will actually break the window out and allow you to escape the vehicle. You can find information about how to buy one of those devices here.