Rescue swimmer: Difference between revisions
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While Katrina brought domestic and international news coverage to Coast Guard rescue swimmers and their crews, their story was first shown on television in a series of 1999 specials on [[Discovery Channel]], ''Coast Guard: Rescue Swimmers'' and ''Coast Guard: Helicopters to the Rescue''. Along with covering the history and the demanding training rescue swimmers must complete, the specials also feature dramatic on-scene footage of several heroic rescues. |
While Katrina brought domestic and international news coverage to Coast Guard rescue swimmers and their crews, their story was first shown on television in a series of 1999 specials on [[Discovery Channel]], ''Coast Guard: Rescue Swimmers'' and ''Coast Guard: Helicopters to the Rescue''. Along with covering the history and the demanding training rescue swimmers must complete, the specials also feature dramatic on-scene footage of several heroic rescues. |
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so did every other male that passed the school....thousands more than females |
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== Water entry shock == |
== Water entry shock == |
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Revision as of 18:18, 21 June 2011
The term rescue swimmer may be applied to any number of water rescue professionals, in coast guards and militaries operating around the world.
Many Coast Guards train helicopter air-sea rescue swimmers and boat based rescue swimmers to enter the water to assist survivors in distress, whereas military rescue swimmers, sometimes referred to as "SAR Wet Crewman" (or CSAR Wet Crewmen), do most of their work from aircraft carriers.
Rescue swimmer programs by country
Canada
Members of the Canadian Air Force serve as rescue swimmers, as they fill the capacity of a Search and Rescue Technician(SAR Tech).
Denmark
Most rescue swimmers in Denmark are Danish Air Force personnel from the Danish Transport and Rescue Squadron (Squadron 722 or in Danish Eskadrille 722), and operate from Sikorsky S-61A and AgustaWestland EH101 helicopters. These rescue swimmers have to be fully qualified as helicopter technicians before they start a 4 week course at the Danish Frogman Corps, followed by a 2 week first aid/PHTLS course.
Other rescue swimmers are members of the Danish Navy and operate from Westland Lynx Mk. 90B helicopters based on a Thetis-class ocean patrol vessels in the waters around Greenland, Faroe Islands and sometimes also Iceland. These swimmers are generally recruited from the diver-corps (which has a 6–10 weeks diving course from the Danish Navy Diving School) and receive basic helicopter crash survival training.
Finally some coast-based rescue swimmers with high-speed boats are stationed around the coasts of Denmark. These are trained by either the Danish national guard or Danish Maritime Safety Administration (Danish: Farvandsvæsnet).
United States of America
In the USA there are several large divisions of the military organized by land, air, and sea operations, plus a separate coast guard division. Each of these divisions has their own training and deployment programs for rescue swimmers.
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force rescue swimmers are called PJs, or Pararescue Jumpers, and perform not only sea based but also land based rescues as well. In the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and HM Coastguard, the usual term for these personnel, who also conduct land-based rescues, is "winchmen".
The most comprehensive component of America's rescue arsenal are the United States Air Force Pararescue teams, although the "rescue swimmer" portion of their duties is sparsely used. Pararescue is a notoriously rigorous CSAR (Combat Search And Rescue) unit, with nine out of every ten candidates failing the indoctrination course. This gives PJs the highest attrition rate of any Special Operations Force. PJs are an elite special operations component, engaging in combat search and rescue. They are trained as combatants and paramedics, operating on air, sea, and land and are considered, along with Air Force Combat Controllers.
During war they rescue downed pilots, special operations troops left behind, and other stranded military men and women. Pararescuemen are also active in peacetime, retrieving NASA space equipment, but also performing rescues in all types of natural disasters, though they get much less recognition for this role due to the small numbers of people rescued. The PJs are often sought out for use by other branches of the military, because of their high-quality training and versatility. For example, Air Force Pararescuemen can be attached to elite units to provide their expertise for various operations.
U.S. Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/rescue swimmer school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina is 18 weeks long, along with four required weeks at the Coast Guard's Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in Petaluma, California where ASTs learn to be qualified EMTs. Rescue swimmers at Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska must maintain EMT II level of proficiency, due to the remoteness of their operational area, and the number of medevacs performed by that unit each year.
The Coast Guard rescue swimmer training program is very challenging. Reportedly, only 75–100 Coast Guard personnel attend the school each year. The attrition rate in some years has been as high as 80% though the 10 year average is just over 54%. There is four to six months build-up training at an operational air station prior to attending to AST "A" School. Prospective U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are physically conditioned to meet certain physical standards. About half of prospective candidates actually make it to AST "A" School. The Coast Guard also holds a one week Advanced Helicopter Rescue school (formerly known as Advanced Helicopter Rescue swimmer School) at Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, Washington which is host to PJ's and Navy Rescue swimmers as well.
U.S. Navy / Marine Corps
United States Navy and Marine Corps rescue swimmer candidates attend a four week long Aircrew School followed by the five week long Aviation Rescue Swimmer School in Pensacola, Florida. After graduating rescue swimmer school students go on to their respective 'A' School also in Pensacola, Florida.. Navy air rescue swimmers were recently split into two separate rates. Which rate a rescue swimmer attains depends on what type of helicopter they are to become qualified in.
Once a Navy rescue swimmer has graduated 'A' School they will go on to their respective Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). Here Crewman learn the various systems in the helicopter they will be flying in. They are also expected to know various in-flight procedures such as hoist operating procedures and in-flight trouble-shooting. This syllabus can take from six to twelve months.
The last stop for a Navy rescue swimmer is SERE School (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape). Upon graduation the brutal two week course they will go to the fleet as operational rescue swimmers. They will only be considered qualified Aircrewmen once they complete an additional 18 month PQS in their new squadron. Once they are qualified, they are eligible to wear Naval Aircrew wings.
Navy Surface Rescue Swimmers attend the four week Surface Rescue Swimmer School in Jacksonville, Florida.
Female rescue swimmers
The Coast Guard and Navy are the only branches that allow women to serve as rescue swimmers. However, only three women are presently qualified in the Coast Guard, and women must meet the same physical, endurance, and performance standards as men in order to earn a qualification as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer.
The first female Navy rescue swimmer was Catherine Elliott (Rizzo) HMC (AC) USN Ret. she was also the very first woman to graduate from Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron in Jacksonville, Fl. and become a rescue swimmer on 16 December 1983. Catherine worked very hard to complete this grueling school and flew Search and Rescue missions up until her retirement in 1995. She received many awards for rescues and even completed one ground rescue while 3 months pregnant.[1]
The first female Coast Guard rescue swimmer was Kelly Mogk (later Larson), who joined the Coast Guard in 1984 and later became the first woman to complete Navy Rescue Swimmer School on May 23, 1986.[2][3][4]
Rescue swimmers in the media
The release of the 2006 motion picture The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, introduced people to this small group of elite rescue workers.
A rescue jumper/swimmer needs to jump from the helicopter because the victims are not able to get into the basket due to wave action.
A rescue swimmer saves Tom Cruise's character Maverick in Top Gun. Rescue Swimmer's name is John Baker, a former Navy SAR School Instructor at NAS North Island in the early 1980's.
On the History Channel reality show Top Shot one of the marksman is US Navy Rescue Swimmer Jamie Franks.
U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers attracted international attention most recently during the rescue operations following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding areas. It was reported that in the first five days following Katrina, Coast Guard crews performed more than 33,500 rescue and hoist operations of Katrina victims stranded on rooftops and in flood water. This was reportedly more than the Coast Guard had rescued worldwide in over 50 years. President George W. Bush awarded participating members of the Coast Guard a Presidential Unit Citation and ribbon for their response to Hurricane Katrina.
While Katrina brought domestic and international news coverage to Coast Guard rescue swimmers and their crews, their story was first shown on television in a series of 1999 specials on Discovery Channel, Coast Guard: Rescue Swimmers and Coast Guard: Helicopters to the Rescue. Along with covering the history and the demanding training rescue swimmers must complete, the specials also feature dramatic on-scene footage of several heroic rescues.
Water entry shock
Although water entry close to the surface is relatively uneventful, the viscous properties of water make it harder for the molecules to move out of the way when penetrated at high speeds, as occurs when jumping into water from great heights.
Mild bruising to being knocked unconscious can occur from very high jumps, especially if entry angle can not be controlled and the jumper is burdened by coiled rope and other heavy rescue equipment. In some situations the rescuer can themselves need to be rescued if they are injured by making a very high jump entry into water.
Generally rescue jumpers try to get as close to the water surface as is practical before jumping out of the rescue vehicle. In ocean rescues during intense storms, helicopters often must stay high to keep clear of large ocean waves, which also have very deep troughs. In these conditions, the jumper tries to time their jump to occur at the crest of the wave action.
References
Bibliography
- Martha J. Laguardia-Kotite, Tom Ridge. So Others May Live: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers Saving Lives, Defying Death. The Lyons Press, 2006, ISBN 9781599211596
External links
