BANGOR — Black Hawk helicopter crews from the Maine Army National Guard’s 126th Aviation Medevac unit put their skills to the test on Wednesday as they practiced rescuing people and surviving emergency water landings at Pushaw Lake.

“We flew to the lake and deployed a sea dye pack to simulate a victim,” Maj. Nathan Arnold, commander of the 126th, said while standing in the hangar at the Army Aviation Support Facility on Hayes Street, while crewmembers packed up and put away the equipment they used.

The two helicopter crews circled the lake and took turns locating the mock crash site.

“Once we find the victim, we store the target in the GPS and figure out what rescue device to use,” Arnold said.

It’s a team effort with the crewmembers in the back of the aircraft guiding the pilots to the exact location so they can deploy the recovery equipment, he said.

While the UH-60 helicopters hovered above the lake’s practice crash zone, crewmembers used three different water recovery devices — rescue straps, a rescue litter and a 30-foot ladder.

“We lowered the rescue devices and did that probably 15 times,” the major said, describing the training.

Each piece of water rescue recovery equipment is designed for different levels of injury with the straps only used by able-bodied people who can wrap the flotation device around them. The litter is designed to float on top of the water so an injured person can “flop” inside, and the ladder is the last resort because of the helicopters’ close proximity to the water, Arnold said.

“Everyone has a carabiner, which they can use to connect to the ladder,” Arnold said.

Once connected to the metal ladder, the person can be carried to shore while dangling at the end, he added.

The hands-on instruction has been conducted in the past when the unit was deployed overseas, but Wednesday’s training was the first conducted in Maine.

“The reason we’re doing these trainings is because two out of the last three deployments we’ve had missions over water,” Arnold said. “We’re still in the crawl phase of the training cycles. The next step, next summer, we want people in the water.

“We want people in the water to see how challenging it is to tread water with an extra 50 pounds [of gear] and how challenging it is to deploy their safety devices,” the unit commander said.

The aviation unit’s helicopter crews evacuate injured soldiers and civilians from combat zones. The unit went to Kuwait in 2012, and it was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2003.

The training is designed to help Maine Army National Guard aircrews become comfortable with their equipment, which helps to reduce the overall risk of missions over waterways, according to Sgt. First Class Peter Morrison, a Maine Guard spokesman.

The objectives are to train the helicopter aircrews to survive “ditchings” and also train them to rescue individuals from the surface of large bodies of water, the first sergeant said.

“It’s important to be able to rescue ourselves,” Arnold said.

The Maine Guard had to complete a lengthy environmental assessment to conduct the trainings. They reviewed everything from eagle nest sites, to noise and use of the temporary water dye to make the training more realistic, and they worked with the Pushaw Lake Association to minimize impacts on residents and local wildlife, Lt. Col. Brian Veneziano, the state aviation officer, said Wednesday.

Before taking off, the 126th helicopter crews spent several hours in the classroom going over what would take place and then donned specialized survival gear before getting into the helicopters, the lieutenant colonel said.

While stateside, the 126th is called into action whenever a technical lift is required because the Black Hawk helicopters are equipped with an external lift, Arnold said.

His medical evacuation crew was called to Mount Katahdin on June 12 to rescue a 22-year-old man suffering from hypothermia, bleeding and neurological issues; on June 22 to help rescue an injured man who fell 20 feet while hiking Maine’s largest mountain; and on June 30 for a 60-year-old Quebec man with head and spine injuries.

“This year it’s been three, but in the past, it’s been as high as 10,” Arnold said.

The unit also delivered fire fighting equipment to a remote Maine island in July. That also served as a joint training about moving heavy equipment, overwater operations, and interacting with state and local agencies.

In addition to the overwater trainings, the 126th helicopter crews also conduct training in a pool that simulates escaping a downed helicopter at night and upside down.

“They get two minutes of air and practice getting in and out of the aircraft,” Arnold said, adding that the trainings give his 120 or so soldiers the tools they need to survive while deployed and at home.

“It was awesome. It’s the best job in the world,” Arnold said.