RES CPR 9 Teach Water Rescues in varied Conditions to Public Safety Personnel
Teach public safety personnel the risks, benefits, and alternatives in performing safe water rescues in varied conditions.
Spectrum level: Educating Providers
Evidence level: Medium
Rationale:
Evidence shows that rescuers have drowned while trying to save people during an aquatic emergency. Teaching public safety personnel the risks, benefits, and alternatives in performing safe water rescues in varied conditions will help reduce the number of drowning-related deaths in aquatic emergencies among this group of professionals. There are a variety of rescue devices that can be used to help public safety personnel who are not trained to enter the water and are first on scene.
Anticipated Impact:
After implementing this recommendation, you can expect to experience the following outcome.
- Training and education on safe response to drowning among public safety personnel leads to a reduction in the number of deaths when responding to drowning incidents.
Evidence:
Rescuers responding to aquatic emergencies are inherently at risk of drowning in the process of performing the rescue, and, unfortunately, drownings occur during aquatic rescue among public safety personnel. For those not trained in aquatic rescue, there are several rescue devices that can be used so that they do not have to enter the water.
Evidence Sources:
Moran K and Stanley S. 2013. Readiness to Rescue: Bystander Perceptions of Their Capacity to Respond in a Drowning Emergency. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education 7(4):290-300. 10.25035/ijare.07.04.03
Moran, K., Webber, J., & Stanley, T. (2017). The 4Rs of Aquatic Rescue: educating the public about safety and risks of bystander rescue. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 24(3), 396–405. doi.org/10.1080/17457300.2016.1224904
American Red Cross. Reach or Throw, Don't Go. https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/atg/PDFs/TakeaClass/Reachorthrowdontgo.pdf
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Rescue Methods. https://www.rospa.com/leisure-safety/water/advice/children-young-people/rescue-methods
American Heart Association. CPR education. https://cpr.heart.org/en/training-programs/community-programs/generation-of-heartsavers
Rahman A, Mashreky SR, Chowdhury SM, Giashuddin MS, Uhaa IJ, Shafinaz S, Hossain M, Linnan M, Rahman F. Analysis of the childhood fatal drowning situation in Bangladesh: exploring prevention measures for low-income countries. Inj Prev. 2009 Apr;15(2):75-9. doi: 10.1136/ip.2008.020123. PMID: 19346418
Department of the Interior, National Park Service - SWIFTWATER RESCUE MANUAL. http://mra.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/nps-swiftwater-rescue-manual-rev09-23-2012-SMALL.pdf
Training and Equipment Guidelines for Rescuers Using Personal Watercraft as a Rescue Tool. https://fbpca.org/PersonalWatercraftTrainingGuidelinesUSLA27JAN051.pdf
Koon W, Gates Ryan M, Scoggins S, Andrus P, Futoran JA. 2020. The Ocean Lifeguard Intervention Continuum: A Cognitive Aid for Surf Lifeguard Education. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education; 12:11 DOI:10.25035/ijare.12.04.11
Beale-Tawfeeq, Angela K. (2019) "Triennial Scientific Review: Assisting Drowning Victims: Effective Water Rescue Equipment for Lay-responders," International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education: Vol. 10: No. 4, Article 8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/ijare.10.04.08
USLA. Training & Standards of Aquatic Rescue Response Teams. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.usla.org/resource/resmgr/docs/uslaarrtguidelines.pdf
High Risk Populations Addressed:
The population whose risk of drowning decreases the most with the implementation of this recommendation may have one of more of the following characteristics:
- wPublic safety personnel who are not trained in water rescue
Evaluation Metrics:
Indicators of long-term impact:
- Reduction in the number of public safety personnel deaths during drowning incidents
- Increase in the number of lives saved from drowning by public safety personnel
Indicators of intermediate impact:
- Increase in training opportunities for public safety personnel on safe alternatives in performing water rescues in varied conditions
- Increase in the number of public safety personnel trained on alternatives in performing safe water rescues in varied condition
- Changes in behavior among public safety personnel regarding safe alternatives in performing water rescues
- Changes in policies to require training on safe alternatives in performing water rescues among first response agencies
Implementation:
Consider the following to ensure successful implementation:
- Identify local public safety organizations and personnel, and engage with any additional collaborators (policy-makers, legislators,EMS, Police, Fire, etc.)
- Determine opportunities for additional education and training
- Determine any needed access, support, and funding mechanisms required
- Identify educators/trainers/staff, curriculum, and materials/equipment needed to facilitate necessary training
Challenges to Implementation:
When implementing this recommendation, you might encounter challenges related to the following factors.
- New protocols may cause controversy within agencies.
- New training and procedures may incur new liability.
- Training may be difficult to sustain long-term.
- Shifting perceptions and behaviors of public safety personnel to not go immediately into, or enter the water to help may be challenging.
- Developing new consistent training and curricula agreed on by all agencies may be challenging.
Potential Facilitators:
The following factors might facilitate the implementation of this recommendation.
GAP Recommendation:
Research is needed to help identify what alternative devices and techniques are most effective for use by public safety personnel
Explore trends in rescuer drowning deaths to help identify what types of events preceded the rescuer drowning and what the situation was around the drowning (ie. pool versus ocean rip current).