Rapid Deployment Search And Rescue / Recovery
Provided by
Lifeguard Systems, Inc., Hurley, New York
Hosted by Davis County Sheriff's Search & Rescue, Farmington, Utah
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Here for Online Registration for this Course
Three and a half day Program for Law Enforcement, Fire and EMS (32 hours)
Thank you for your interest in Lifeguard Systems professional Rapid Deployment Search and Rescue/Recovery Programs. Each program is designed to meet the specific needs of the students in the course. If students are Law Enforcement personnel, then search items are knives, shells and firearms, and scenarios are based on homicides by drowning. Body bag procedures will be taught and practiced. If Firefighters make up the majority of the students, then dressing in under three minutes, rapid deployment, and patient handling become more important.
All programs were created by Walt "Butch" Hendrick and are based on the main mission that when the job is done, you need to go home. Rescuer safety is the number one priority.
The following describes our Level One RDSAR/R program. Most of our diving programs follow similar duration and pricing schedules. We have three and a half, five and twelve day programs to meet the specific needs of your team, with specialties ranging from underwater vehicle extrication to blackwater ice rescue, field neurological programs, and fastwater rescue.
RDSAR/R is the prerequisite for our other specialist diving programs. If offers Rapid Deployment Search & Rescue/Recovery Certification, as well as Blackwater I if enough dives in blackwater are conducted. If blackwater is not available, masks can be blacked out.
RDSAR/R 1 programs begin with four hours of classroom work including:
- What is Rapid Deployment Search and Rescue?
- What does it mean to be prepared, and the Nature of the Beast? esponsibilities of Fire, Police, EMS.
- How to handle a victim, from the diver to emergency room personnel
- Prevention of diver immersion hypothermia and drowning
- We can't save them all - what are the factors?
- Scene and accident management
- Running a rescue or recovery operation
- Required personnel and equipment
- Why tenders are the most important people on the site
- Back-up and 90% ready divers
- Profiling, trifexing, and information documentation
- The legalities of being a professional rescuer--protecting yourself
- Writing an effective, safe and self-protecting SOP/SOG
- Where is the body? Current, Wind and Depth
- Homicide by drowning (if police are participating)
- Witness interviewing
- Contingency Plans
- Difference between rescue and recovery
Four hour hands-on, land session:
Following the lectures, there is constant hands-on practical training, using both specialized and easily available rescue equipment. The first skills covered are speed dressing, search techniques and site management. Divers will be able to dress in under 3 minutes. Training videos and drill outlines are available for maintaining skill levels after the program.
- Rapid Tender/Diver Dressing - under 3 minutes
- Rope Signals Drill
- Blacked-out Mask Line Tending Search Game - find well hidden dimes, knives, etc.
- Blackwater Contingency Procedure - Back-up and Primary diver
Two -and- a- half days of diving operations on site:
Skills are then incorporated into live-action, openwater scenarios which are timed and debriefed on the spot. Life-sized child and adult mannequins are intermittently used as search objects to create as much reality as possible during the scenarios. Small items such as carabiners and quarters are the primary blackwater search items. Four-wire tethered communications system is redundantly used for maximum learning and safety. Sites will change without notice, and confusion and surprise will be added by the staff to get the most from your team members. A pool is not required - we train teams where they will need to dive.
Every student will dive, tend, manage, and do paperwork, with the result that each member of the team gets all the pieces. They can then take this knowledge and training to other personnel and future team members.
- Each diver will complete a minimum of three successful search dives and two underwater contingency exercises, all of which must be logged.
- Each diver and tender will serve as primary tender at least twice and as back-up tender/profiler at least twice, all of which must be logged.
- As many students as possible will serve as officer in charge and safety officer.
- EMS will check vitals of divers before and after each dive and will manage drowning victims and surprise diving accidents
- As many students as possible will interview witnesses and document information on a master profile map.
- If boats are necessary for operations, then students will train how to anchor the vessels with a hurricane anchoring system.
- A written examination will be administered at the end of the course.
Scenarios include the following training:
- Rapid dressing and proper Rapid Deployment techniques
- Multiple search techniques
- Witness interviewing
- Profiling an area for short and long term rescue operations
- Correct tending procedures
- Extreme cold water
- Contaminated water
- Blackwater
- Out-of-air and entanglement situations
- Dive accident management
- Victim extrication and pre-hospital handling and care
- Safety back-up operations
- Land and small boat support operations
- Plus, additional topics which will pertain to your specific needs
Your team will be prepared with practiced emergency contingency plans and enough information to write a very safe and effective SOP/SOG by the program's end.
We would like to include your local EMS units and hospital personnel in our lecture periods to have them fully aware of the modern procedures for water-related accidents. This will also ensure that rescue is possible from the first alarm all the way through to the hospital emergency room.
EMS can attend the entire program to learn how to tend divers, and for special lectures and drills on dive accident management; adult, infant and child patient handling; drowning and hypothermia management; and site organization. Most teams charge these EMS students $50 to $150 each. We recommend arranging for EMS credit ahead of time.
If arrangements are made, a Lifeguard Systems Trainer can provide a three to four hour seminar on dive accident, drowning and submersion hypothermia patient handling in the Emergency Department of your local hospital sometime during the program.
Course set-up and fees
Day One (Thursday, April 10, 2003) 1830-2200hrs). Classroom Only.
Days two -four (Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13, 2003):
First Night Only - $25 per person. Recommended for all SAR team members, Deputies, or agency personnel for the purpose of orienting them to the hazards and safety precautions necessary in public safety diving as they participate in a support or logistics role during an incident.
Entire Course - The
course is designed for both divers and tenders. The fee for divers is
$250. The fee for tenders is $100.
