The use of aquatic rescue material by professionals is conditioned
By the practical training received regarding mastery of the aquatic environment, their skills and abilities, and control over the water. The American Lifeguard Association provide the lifeguard training with multiple advantages. Among all of them, The following are the most notable of all of them:
- Offers greater buoyancy to the rescuer and/or the injured person.
- Prevents body-to-body contact between the conscious casualty and the rescuer,
thus avoiding the possible release. - Facilitates multiple and simultaneous rescues.
- Offers the possibility of assisting any type of injured person.
- Offers greater safety for the injured party and for the lifeguard in the aquatic environment.
- Favors the opening of the airways in unconscious accident victims.
- Allows full control of the victim during rescue and assistance:
– Check your status.
– Control of their vital signs and respiratory assistance (mouth-to-mouth) if necessary.
- Reduces the lifeguard’s energy expenditure because it enables him to ask for help with the use of
manual signals, securing the injured person in the meantime and keeping him afloat on the
material. - Helps to keep the injured person afloat with the airways out of the water, both in their
trailer and when the lifeguard leaves the water to later carry out their extraction. - Facilitates the immobilization of the injured person with a spinal cord injury and their transport in the water, being able to offer greater buoyancy to the immobilization stretcher if necessary.
- Etc.
AQUATIC RESCUE EQUIPMENT AS AN AUXILIARY
RESCUE MEANS
The difficulty in rescues comes hand in hand with the adverse conditions in which they are carried out and the hostile environment in which they occur. Taking into account that the aquatic environment is a fluid and that buoyancy is a fundamental aspect in it to avoid major disasters, the use of rescue material will be an important ally that will help us intervene successfully in multiple and varied situations.
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The lifebuoy
Also called ring, life preserver, rescue float, rescue ring, etc., it is the oldest rescue material, having to its credit more than a century of history .
As its name suggests, it is a toroid-shaped material with great buoyancy, made of
different materials. Originally it was made of wood but later, due to its excessive
weight, it was made of cork. This material, much lighter but less resistant, was covered
with a canvas to give it consistency. Currently we find it made of different materials
such as rigid plastic (lighter and more resistant), expanded polyethylene foam protected with a
special paint, etc.
The rescue tube
It offers great advantages: it is light, easy to handle, flexible and very useful in any type of rescue.
These characteristics make it one of the most important materials in the rescue of injured persons.
The water rescue stretcher:
Last but not least, we are going to talk about the water rescue stretcher.
Also called spinal board, spinal cord immobilization stretcher, etc. Although there are different types of immobilization stretchers, the one most used in the aquatic environment is the one that is made up of a rigid board with great buoyancy with straps to immobilize the injured person and adjustable plastic or foam accessories to immobilize the head.
Importance of lifeguard in pools:
Safety in swimming pools is not a matter that only compromises the lifeguard, but also the teachers and even all the users of the facilities. In other words, not only the lifeguard must ensure the safety of those who attend a swimming pool, but also the teachers and the users themselves must know, respect and disseminate the safety guidelines. In this article, I would like to deepen the analysis of the responsibility of each of the aforementioned actors when it comes to preventing accidents or providing assistance if necessary. On the other hand, we will see how this topic can be linked to the objectives of swimming schools, within the framework of expanding the spectrum of content to be developed in them.
Aquatic environment as an educational field:
When we think of the aquatic environment as an educational field, we tend to focus attention on swimming as the only content to teach. In general, it is enough for society that our students learn to swim correctly the four swimming techniques. But water offers a much wider range of possibilities. Other aquatic sports (water polo, synchronized swimming, diving and open water), as well as other aquatic activities (gymnastics, rehabilitation, babies, diving, pre and postpartum, rescue, etc.), are some of the areas in which Physical Education teachers can and must perform.
Programs of aquatic activities:
In the programs of aquatic activities corresponding to any swimming school, the teaching of this wide range of possibilities should be proposed in order to increase the motor heritage of their students, seeking a positive intervention in the motor behavior of the subject. Under this broader view, I would like to propose that issues related to safety and rescue techniques be included as contents to be developed with swimming school students. For this to be viable, teachers must receive adequate training. The proposal is then, to train the teacher to experience and understand the importance of acquiring these tools.
