PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - From hours to minutes. That’s how much time could potentially be reduced on water rescues in Lake Oswego with the help of a new tool using artificial intelligence.
The Lake Oswego Fire Department recently obtained an AquaEye, a handheld scanner that uses the latest artificial intelligence and ultrasound technology to scan the water for humans.
They won the $6,000 needed to purchase the device through a contest run by Citycounty Insurance Services, in which they pitched their need for the device through an explanatory video.
Battalion Chief Greg Barnum said the Corbett Fire Department is the only other fire agency he knows in the region that has the device, and he knows the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office recently purchased one as well.
He demonstrated the device in the Willamette River, submerging it in the water, scanning it 180 degrees, and revealing the screen.
“X’s mean there’s possible bodies,” Barnum said.
SEE ALSO:
Though they have not yet used the device for any real calls, Barnum said he knows that it has saved lives in other areas of the United States.
“It’s a gamechanger, it truly is for the water rescue,” he said. “It’s going to change people’s lives. It helps find victims so much quicker, keeps our rescuers in the water less.”
Barnum used to be on the fire department’s dive team himself, and he said when he first started 25 years ago, they averaged between 10 and 15 water rescue calls a year. Now, it’s about 30 calls a year.
“We have better parks in our areas…now you have standup boards, all these fun activities that people can do in the water,” he said.
With the recent opening of Lake Oswego to the public, along with the several bodies that have been discovered in the Willamette and Columbia rivers over the last month, Barnum said cutting down on time can only help reduce these incidents.
“The cool thing about the Aqua Eye is it’s going to give closure,” he said. “We can’t go out there and save every single person, but when someone does drown, we do need to go out there and find them. And that can take days to weeks to months, and with this device we can find them so much quicker.”
Copyright 2025 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.