Transferrable Rescue Skills

[cuester]

I have always been interested in the relation between rescue divers and lifeguards. A large group of my friends are lifeguards. Now before i get in hot water I'll make a disclosure. I know that without proper trainign one should not profess to be a lifeguard nor take on an lifegarding responsibilities. Now has anyone here been a rescue diver and a lifeguard and found any of the skills transferrable to the other?

 

[Coll]

I took the rescue class with 3 life guards and they seemed to have a pretty good grasp on a lot of the stuff. All the CPR and first aid obviously but also some of the ways to tow divers at the surface. Most of the diver underwater rescue stuff isn't really transferable.

 

[stevephilanyc]

I taught lifeguards and lifeguard instructors through the Red Cross for many years. When I took Rescue it seemed like many--or most--of the principles were the same. The BCD and exposure protection add a wrinkle, but there is a lot of transfer.

Steve

 

[DiveMaven]

My husband and I are both lifeguard trained, and I agree, many of the skills were identical or similar. Also, we didn't find Rescue to be a difficult class, nor super strenuous, but it was an excellent class.

 

[Damselfish]

sure, there's some overlap. Even with stuff that doesn't really overlap, lots of things are related enough to be useful to learn, just more tools in the toolbox.

 

[Guba]

It seems Steve and I are in the same category. I'm a trained lifeguard (for over 20 years), I train lifeguards, and I'm Rescue Diver certified.
Of course, much of the emergency procedures are similar and only vary in the type of equipment that is used and available, and the first aid practices (CPR, etc...) are virtually identical except in a few scenario specific details.
Perhaps the strongest similarity is totally mental, or perhaps more succinctly, psychological. In both endeavors, one must be mentally prepared for the situation. This involves rehearsing a situation and its variations multiple times in one's mind and in practice until it becomes second nature to respond properly. This "mental toughness" is by far the most important aspect of reacting correctly in an emergency situation, and if the training is thorough and competent it prepares the responder well. This is true in both lifeguarding and (rescue) scuba training.

 

[covediver]

I just finished teaching a lifeguard class and have been a rescue diver/safety diver/divemaster. Some techniques are readily transferable. Snorkeling techniques used in waterfront lifeguarding for example. Other techniques are generic, such as scanning, risk management (identifying and eliminating conditions that could cause accidents), reaching assists, etc. Most dive rescue techniques do not involve the use of cans or tubes and because of the gear that divers wear, scuba has some very different techniques to fit the circumstances of the rescue. Finally, time is a factor. Most lifeguards don't worry about in water rescue breathing where as that seems to be a major concern among rescue divers.

 

[chip104]

Dear lifeguards,

If you encountered a fellow lifeguard who is AOW and has no aspiration of taking a rescue diver course because their mentality is "been there, done that, I don't need to learn how to rescue someone in the water again....", what would you say to convince them otherwise?

 

[Damselfish]

give them some specific examples of the scuba specific scenarios and info, differences.

 

[chip104]

Most dive rescue techniques do not involve the use of cans or tubes and because of the gear that divers wear, scuba has some very different techniques to fit the circumstances of the rescue.

Ah, I missed this post. It's the technical differences that interest me. Was there anything in your mind that made you think: "hey, this is a cool way to do it"?

Finally, time is a factor. Most lifeguards don't worry about in water rescue breathing where as that seems to be a major concern among rescue divers.

So rescue divers feel the need to perform rescue breathing in water because they take more time in the water (waiting for a dive boat pickup, takes longer to wade back to shore...)? Is it also because it's easier to float the casualty with their BCD?