Retrieving an injured or unconcious diver into a boat

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bergersau

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Location
Melbourne Australia
# of dives
I just don't log dives
How many of you have actually practiced the retrieval of a casualty into a boat?
For those that have - Have you any tips to offer?

It's something my club was practicing over the weekend and surprisingly difficult if your 'casualty' is around the 90kg (200lb) mark as a number of our guys are.

One thing we found works for us in 5-6m (17'-19') powerboats is to secure an unloaded weight belt around the chest of the casualty under the armpits and use that as a 'handle'. With one person either side of the casualty you can then lift much more effectively than without the strap. Though it is somewhat hard on the 'casualty's' armpits whilst training. Even using the strap we found one person was unable to sufficiently lift the casualty to get them back on board the boat.
 
I've not practiced retrieving a person onto a boat, but I can give some insight based on 15 years of working as a lifeguard and hauling simulated victims onto a pool deck.

The key is to do a two-person lift. A solo lift is a recipe for self-injury and a failed rescue.

Ideally, the two rescuers will use a backboard. However, seeing as most dive boats probably don't have one of those, I'll describe the general procedure for a swimming pool extraction without a backboard. You can then extrapolate to a boat.
  1. The in-water rescuer turns the victim to face the pool deck.
  2. The two land-side rescuers grasp the victim's wrists. (If there are only two total rescuers, the in-water rescuer climbs out and takes one of the victim's arms from the lone land-side rescuer.)
  3. Each rescuer grasps the victim's hand/wrist with the land-side hand and grasps the victim's wrist/forearm with the water-side hand.
  4. As one, the rescuers "bounce" the victim twice in the water to build up momentum, and then "on three," heave the victim up and over the edge. (Lift upward first so that you don't bash the victim's face on the pool edge. The victim should be at least halfway out of the water so s/he is bent over in a natural-looking position. If not, then try the bounce again, this time dipping the victim deeper.)
  5. One rescuer keeps a grip on the victim's wrists (and never lets go). The second rescuer grabs the inside of the victim's closest leg and hauls that leg out of the water.
  6. The second rescuer maintains contact with the victim's land-side leg and grabs the victim's other leg.
  7. The second rescuer pulls the water-side leg up and over. At the same time, the first rescuer uses her/his grip on the victim's wrists to help roll the victim onto her/his back.
That's the basic procedure for a poolside extraction. It can be challenging, especially with a 200-lb victim and smaller rescuers, but it's eminently do-able.
 
Not practiced much in the diving context but have got a few dozen big guys into open boats over the years. Get the arms in the boat. Pin them down (or rope to a bench if solo) Haul in the leg next. Pin it down. Roll body into boat by the second leg. This is in the incapacitated diver perspective. Where you can't drag someone behind the boat back to help. An injured diver would be uncomfortable with this method, and could be worsened.... I won't be the test dummy any more.

Regards,
Cameron

-edit- Delayed post. The post above this one is excellent.
 
@Schwob
The 'parbuckling' method with the net looks great for RIB style boats. I don't think it would be as affective from the fiberglass boats common here.
 
It's something I get to practice all the time, as we teach it on the Rescue course, and on courses run by the club. Our boat have gunnels which are perhaps 1 - 1.5m (3-4') above the waterline

We use the bounce method with 2 rescuers on teh boat each holding a wrist/arm and one in the water.

Trying to protect the victim's head from hitting the side of the boat, is of course paramount, more so when it's an exercise. If it were the real deal, while you'd take care, you'd be more inclined to get the victim into the boat.

The main difference on a boat vs a pool side is positioning of the boat with regard to wind, swell and current, as well as clearing the boat decks and of course putting the engines in neutral
 
How many of you have actually practiced the retrieval of a casualty into a boat?
For those that have - Have you any tips to offer?

It's something my club was practicing over the weekend and surprisingly difficult if your 'casualty' is around the 90kg (200lb) mark as a number of our guys are.

One thing we found works for us in 5-6m (17'-19') powerboats is to secure an unloaded weight belt around the chest of the casualty under the armpits and use that as a 'handle'. With one person either side of the casualty you can then lift much more effectively than without the strap. Though it is somewhat hard on the 'casualty's' armpits whilst training. Even using the strap we found one person was unable to sufficiently lift the casualty to get them back on board the boat.

A boat or a ship? There are very different techniques necessary.

R..
 
I recall from the Rescue Course there is what's called the "roll up" method--use of a tarp of sorts with polls on the ends. Maybe similar to using a net. Depending on type of boat, it would seem prudent for those in charge to have something of this nature on board.
 
I've seen some programs cut a wooden backboard in half or 2/3 of the usual length.

You load the un-kitted victim in water and then use the backboard to leverage off the swim platform to drag the person onto the deck. Works from either water-line to a 2ft drop from deck; but to be universal you will always need a minimum of 2 people topside to lift the victim of any "reasonable" weight. For OP's situation that does include 2x 100lbs divers lifting a 200lbs diver. The biggest help is using the rigid backboard to plank and pivot on the swim platform.

The backboard is still loaded with 2 straps, 1x goes under the armpits and the other goes over the arms. The topmost strap under the arms bears the victim's weight, the lower one prevents the arms from lifting up and the victim then sliding out. Lookup a Lifeguard backboard tutorial to get the fundamental idea.

Depending on your angle you may have to replace the top strap with a "StratLoad" strap locking buckle, because sometimes a near vertical angle will cause normal plastic buckles to unsnap and your victim goes bye-bye.

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QuickConnectBuckle-01.jpg
 
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