Water Rescue Technician: Safety and First Aid
Definition of a Water Rescue Technician
A water rescue technician is a person able to make saves in the aquatic environment and practice first aid in all types of terrain.
General Principles of Water Rescue
Prevention
Conduct an education program that provides data, simple techniques, and aquatic rescue practices, especially on what not to do. The best aquatic rescue technician develops sufficient prevention to make intervention unnecessary. Here are some tips that may be of great utility and that can help prevent accidents if fulfilled.
Eight Tips to Prevent Drowning
- Make sure you know the area where you will be swimming. Find out about it beforehand.
- If you cannot swim in unknown natural spaces, do not swim alone, and do not go far from the shore. If you swim, move parallel to the shore.
- Always respect the standards and guidelines of the aquatic rescue technician. As a general rule:
- In swimming pools, do not push others, do not jump without first making sure that no one is there, do not run over the edge, do not sink others into the water, and meet the standards of hygiene.
- On beaches, try to swim in supervised areas, do not go far from the shore, do not dive into unknown depths, control the tides, and beware of caves and algae networks.
- Try to get wet before entering the water. Your body will get used to the new temperature gradually. If you feel cold, get out of the water immediately.
- Respect digestion if you are not used to swimming after eating. Avoid large meals before swimming. It is worse to have a sudden temperature change than the fact that you have eaten before.
- Watch small children near water. They do not know the risks, and it does not take much water for them to drown.
- If you see someone in danger, be smart: call for technical support from a rescue aquatic professional. If no one is better prepared than you, discuss your means and possibilities before acting. It is always better to have one person drowned than two in danger.
- If you are in danger, stay calm, get help, and rely on those who are going to help. A relaxed body with air in the lungs allows the mouth and nose to stay above water.
Problems
- Inadequate or no adaptation of educational programs on these topics.
- Poor legislation.
- Poor or no information for the population.
- Inadequate awareness of the public regarding bathing areas.
- Insufficient or no regard for water accidents and drowning statistics.
Surveillance
Oversight standards: Cover the largest bathroom area possible. Do this with the greatest number of aids possible, from an area that has easy access to the site of the bathroom, and under optimal technical conditions for rescue.
Most Common Problems
- Lack of human resources to perform surveillance.
- Little or no preparation in the person or persons performing the surveillance.
- Weariness in the person who is watching.
- Lack of means and materials to ensure proper and efficient surveillance.
- Inadequate or no work of supervision in connection with surveillance.
- Little or no connection between monitoring and the work stages of aquatic rescue.
Control
Control becomes clear when serenity and tranquility are maintained, but by acting quickly and, above all, effectively.
Problems
- Little or no preparation of the person making the rescue.
- Insecurity of the rescue technician.
- Getting carried away by unnecessary risks and not carrying out a proper analysis of the situation.
- Attempting to perform unnecessary rescues through useless and excessive narcissistic exhibits.
- Technical confidence in people who do not know how to help.
Presteza (Promptness)
Speed in decisions and actions is always the main feature.
Problems
- Lack of means and materials to ensure proper and efficient monitoring, which enables a fast intervention.
- Incorrect use of the equipment and materials provided for surveillance.
- No or insufficient preparation of the technician in rescue.
- Little or no cohesion between different stages of aquatic rescue.
- Lack of adequate access for ambulances to bathing areas and the absence of an organized evacuation of accident victims to offer more guarantees.
Diagnosis and Action
You must attend to the person who suffered the accident, diagnose their condition, and act appropriately.
Sequence of Action in Aquatic Rescue
- Perception of the problem: This depends on the senses, sight, and hearing. It allows the technician in aquatic rescue to assess the situation and its essential circumstances. Elements include optical-motor assessment, visual acuity, and the quality of perception of a moving object.
- Analysis of the situation: To help make decisions appropriate to each circumstance and timing, it will be critical to facilitate the corresponding action.
- Decision-making: To take any action, physical or mental, it must first be decided how to do it.
- Implementation of actions chosen to solve the problem:
- Entry into the water.
- Approximation in the fastest way possible without losing sight of the victim.
- Control.
- Towing method.
- Water extraction.
- Diagnosis and application of first aid.
- Final evaluation of the rescue: Learning from mistakes is the system that man has always used, and progress, taking into account success, is the basis for progress.