Water Safety, Survival and Rescue Courses.

Many people push for the idea of all parents doing a first aid course - and I'm one of them. One thing a lot of people never think to do are water rescue, safety or survival courses. Summer is coming up and more and more people will be swimming in any decent sized body of water they can find - be it a pool, beach, lake, or river. And there are some places where Summer storms have a tendancy to cause nasty floods, giving us deep water to deal with all over the place whether we like it or not!

Learning water rescue, safety, and survival doesn't mean that you have to be a super-fit ironman or become a fully qualified lifeguard. In Australia, the Surf Life Saving Society and the Royal Life Saving Society both run courses in basic water rescue, water safety and water survival techniques for anyone that wants to learn. And if you don't know how to swim, they will teach you! Many swim schools also run similar courses. There are even simple water safety courses that children can do. These are great for kids, as not only do they learn water safety - which can save their lives - but it also gives them confidence in the water, and confidence in themselves.

There is a difference between Surf Life Saving and Royal Life Saving. Surf Life Saving specializes in the surf - ie: beaches. Royal Life Saving specializes in swimming pools and inland water ways - including lakes, rivers, creeks, dams, and even floodwaters. The hazards for each are a bit different, and although the basics are the same, when you get into the advanced courses, the training is different and very specialized.

Common Surf Hazards:

• Rip tides; that can be invisible and can and often do carry people far out to sea.
• Strong waves; that can knock anyone under the water, smash them into rocks, and make them hard to see.
• Large areas to supervise; which can make people hard to see and difficult to get to.
• Dangerous wildlife; such as sharks, jellyfish, stonefish, etc.
• Tides; which can wash anything in or out of the beach, including people.
• Vehicles that share the space; such as boats, jet-skis, and other hazards that swimmers can get in the way of.
• Varying depths; which have caused a lot of spinal injuries and deaths when people assume the water is deep and dive in, as well as drownings when someone that can't swim suddenly find they can no longer touch the bottom.

Common Inland Water Way Hazards:

• Strong currents; like a tide or rip tide can be unseen and can carry someone away.
• Murky water; which can make anyone that has gone under the water impossible to see.
• Underwater snags; which can catch, trap or injure people.
• Varying depths; which have caused a lot of spinal injuries and deaths when people assume the water is deep and dive in, as well as drownings when someone that can't swim suddenly find they can no longer touch the bottom.
• Vehicles that share the space; such as boats, jet-skis, and other hazards that swimmers find themselves in the way of.
• Limited view of the area; caused by bends in a river, outcroppings of land, little islands, etc.
• Dangerous wildlife; such as crocodiles if you're in the northern states, but even the occassional land snake will decide to cross a creek.

Common Swimming Pool Hazards:

• Diving into shallow water; which can cause serious spinal injury or death.
• Slipping on the edge of the pool and falling in; which can result in the same effects as diving in.
• Over-crowding; which can make someone that has gone under the water hard to see.
• Trusting floatation devices; to substitute for supervision and not being able to swim.
• People doing really stupid and dangerous stunts; often because they assume because it's a pool, they are safe.

And of course, not being able to swim will cause problems no matter what type of water you are in.

The most common mistakes people make when trying to rescue someone are:

• Entering the water too quickly without first checking for dangers; and getting injured or killed themselves as a result.
• Swimming out to rescue someone and getting caught in the same current or rip tide; and getting carried away as well.
• Over-reaching when trying to pull someone out of the water; and falling in as well.
• Getting dragged under by a person in a panic; and being drowned by them.
• Not knowing how to get someone out of the water safely; and causing more problems and injuries to the victim and themselves.
• Not knowing how to properly tow someone to safety; and accidently drowning them.

The most common mistakes people make when they find themselves in a dangerous situation in water are:

• Panic and thrash about: which will tire them out and cause them to drown long before anyone can get to them.
• Trying to swim against a current or rip tide; again tiring them out and drowning them before getting anywhere.
• Not knowing how to properly signal for help; and thus not getting noticed.
• Grabbing hold of their rescuer; and pushing them under the water and drowning them.
• Not knowing how to grab and hold a rescue device properly; which can make the device useless and even more dangerous than their current situation.

Having been a lifeguard and instructor for several years for the RLSSA, I could go on a big long lecture about how to counteract all these problems, but instead I'm going to recommend that you get in contact with your nearest branch of the Surf or Royal Life Saving Society in your area, or a local swimming school, and do some basic courses in water safety, survival, and rescue.

Better to be safe than sorry this summer.