Pro Surfers practice Jet Ski Rescue Training for Big Wave Surfing

Best time to train is in a controlled environment, so when things go sideways on the big day there is no question on what the right decision is to make.

Who’s Driving the Ski? This Is Where Big-Wave Rescue Teams Come From

Big waves have a certain mystique to them, at least when viewed from the beach or via the internet. When you get into the thick of things, with tons of water moving around, the mystique can fade pretty quickly. Now add the typical lineup chaos you might experience at a crowded break like Malibu or Pleasure Point, and shit gets downright horrifying.

With more and more people getting into surfing in recent years, surprisingly – or not – there’s also more and more people taking on the waves of Maverick’s, Jaws, and Nazaré. And unlike your local beachbreak, the crowds at big-wave locations can produce some truly life-threatening scenarios. I caught up with several rescue teams to learn about what these storied locations look like from the perspective of the rescuer, and the efforts being made in recent years to manage the crowds of chargers who come to test themselves on some of the biggest and gnarliest waves in the world. I basically wanted to find out where these rescue teams come from and why they do what they do. Read More

Airman At Sea

 

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Garrett Stevens, 6th Security Forces Squadron marine patrolman, operates a jet ski in Tampa Bay, Florida, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, March. 7, 2022. Marine patrol Airmen utilize boats, jet skis, and all-terrain vehicles to patrol and enforce all of MacDill’s coastal restricted area. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Hiram Martinez)

Jet Ski Rescue of Swimmers Struggling from HUGE Waves

 

Bryan is driving his jet ski back to the harbor at the end of his shift when he notices two swimmers in the water. A few minutes later the waves get bigger and someone comes across the radio to tell Bryan that the swimmers are now in trouble.

National Guard supports joint water rescue exercise

 

SMYRNA, Tenn. – Members from the Tennessee National Guard, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Nashville Fire Department, Rutherford County's StormPoint Emergency Response team and others participated in a joint water rescue exercise April 9.

Tennessee's Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team, a joint rescue crew with a Tennessee National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter and aircrew with rescue personnel from the Nashville Fire Department, practiced rescuing drowning victims in Stewarts Creek.

"It's critical that we all train together," said Lt. Col. Jay Jackson, the military liaison for TEMA. "Doing this with people you've never met would be dangerous during a real world emergency, especially in hazardous conditions. That's not when we should be working together for the first time."

During the training event, the Tennessee National Guard helicopter crew lowered a Nashville Fire Department diver into the lake by hoist. The diver swam to the victims, provided aid, and readied them for rescue. Strapping the victims to the rescue strop, diver hooking themselves to the rescue cable and hoisted out of the water into the hovering helicopter. The crew simulated first aid as the survivors were airlifted to the nearest hospital.

"These exercises allow us to streamline the process and strengthen the relationships between the Tennessee National Guard and our state and local partners," said Jackson. "It is all meant to ensure that we are ready to respond to emergencies and protect our fellow citizens. Some of these maneuvers can be dangerous, especially during inclement weather, and we need to be ready."

This year's exercise included an additional element: an unmanned aerial systems team from StormPoint Emergency Response who provided a live feed of the training to the state operations center. Additionally, the team completed a mission delivering life vests to the simulated drowning victims before the HART team's arrival."Our job during this training exercise was to provide situational awareness for the water rescue exercise," said Russell Bradshaw, StormPoint Emergency Response executive director. "We were able to use the drone to locate the victims and provide coordinates and information for the inbound rescue team."

This new capability enhances the Tennessee National Guard's ability, along with local and state partners, to respond to numerous situations, including difficult-to-reach accident sites and major natural disasters, rapidly.

"This new joint capability for Tennessee not only benefits Tennesseans in the event of a disaster but will also be a deployable resource to neighboring states in the event of a disaster out of our area," said Jackson.

The HART team has already completed a successful mission. In October 2020, an injured hiker in North Carolina was successfully hoisted and transported safely to the nearest hospital.

Shared from the US Army

Extractor Pro Model PWC Rescue Sled

Special Aquatic Service (SAS) Water Safety first utilized the Extractor sleds back in 1997 and found them to be invaluable for PWC rescue operations and event support. Today, the Extractor PRO model has been an industry standard for quick rescue pick ups in the surfline, rivers and other near shore situations for the past 20 years. This model, due to its size and weight, is designed for use with PWC’s where a single rescue operator is available to operate the PWC, or may be used in situations where a rescue swimmer is used to assist the victim.

Extractor made the ‘original’ PWC rescue sled in winter of 1991 and patented the water rescue sled back in 1993.  Several revisions have been created over the years to improve durability, performance and adapt the sled to be able to connect with ever-changing hull designs of various personal watercraft.  Current sled designs have features that take into consideration the many different makes and models of personal watercraft.

Not all personal watercraft makes and models are ideal for connecting and using a rescue sled. For the models that do, the optimum connection between personal watercraft and sled differ slightly. Some pwcs already come with hard points ideal for towing, and some pwcs still require installation of hard points onto the rub rails, seat housing, transom or stern in order to provide the most stable and secure connection. 

Taking the time to properly mount your sled is critical: a sled that is too loose or too tight on the transom above the jet, can affect maneuverability and stability. In the worst-case scenario, this could damage your boat, the sled itself, or cause serious injury.

When mounting your sled, you will always want to keep three points for attaching the stern. Some connection systems utilize a solid hitch connection and others use soft rigging, like rope or webbing.  The solid hitch or the middle rope become the main tow point.  Ideally the shorter the connection is between the sled and pwc, the more the board will be stable in the water.

The Extractor Jet Ski Rescue Sled is the result of 30 years of experience, manufacturing several revisions of sleds, using different materials and construction methods along the way. Ultimately, the end users and customers have driven the demand for the current design, using the most durable materials, which can be molded into a hull shape that optimizes functionality for being towed behind a watercraft, which do not delaminate from water pressure working on glued seams, rot from sitting in the salt water or sun, and are recyclable, so they don’t end up polluting the ocean or taking up space in land-fills. The plastic is easily repaired and welded, minimizing time out of commission. 

Check out Extractor Sleds full line of sleds and rescue equipment

Rescue Watercraft for the Fire Service

 

The fire service is the epitome of adapting to the changing environment and the needs of the community. The leadership of the fire service continues to evaluate and meet the needs to our dynamic environments and response districts. The fire service of 2020 is not what the fire service of 2000 was, nor what it was in the ‘90s, ‘80s, or any previous era.

The public’s interest in the fire department goes much deeper than making sure we can handle any fire incident. We are the all-hazards agency that continues to be tasked with greater responsibility for helping those who live in or visit our communities. Many agencies have taken on more increased roles with the same or even less staffing. The term “emergency services” better defines our agencies today as we do much more the fight fires.

An area that has always received our attention is water-related emergencies. Today, we have more options to address emergencies on or in the water. The hazards in water-related rescues are vast and complicated. Swiftwater, ocean, and lake and pond environments have many different features without considering the environmental impacts.

In 2018, the Coast Guard counted 4,145 accidents that involved 633 deaths, 2,511 injuries, and approximately $46 million dollars of damage to property as a result of recreational boating accidents. These accidents contributed to a fatality rate was of 5.3 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels. (1)

Open water is a term that includes natural bodies of water (lakes, rivers, oceans) and man-made bodies of water (canals, reservoirs, and retention ponds). In 2016, open water drownings made up 43 percent of fatal childhood drownings (2).

If your agency has any open water, you must take these statistics seriously, complete a needs assessment, and look for ways to prevent these incidents. Beyond prevention, you must adequately prepare for and respond equipped and trained to rescue those in need.

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