Rescue swimming is the body of skills that enable an individual to attempt a

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...

when a swimmer is in difficulty. These include a combination of

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

skills, specific "rescue" swimming strokes, and release and evade techniques for

self-preservation Self-preservation is a behavior or set of behaviors that ensures the survival of an organism. It is thought to be universal among all living organisms. For sentient organisms, pain and fear are integral parts of this mechanism. Pain motivates the ...

should the rescue go wrong. Medium size rescue swimming

* From the outset once a swimmer in difficulty is spotted,

eye contact Eye contact occurs when two people look at each other's eyes at the same time. In humans, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and can have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term came from ...

must be maintained at all times. * Assess the situation: environment, available physical equipment, others who can help, etc. * Attempt to establish

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

contact, which if successful can often result in a "voice-rescue". * A rescuer should enter the water only as a last resort. * Rescues should be attempted in the following order: talk, throw, reach, wade, row, swim, tow and carry. There are four main rescue strokes:

front crawl The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as the Australian crawl or American crawl, is a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a f ...

, breaststroke, inverted breaststroke, and

sidestroke The sidestroke is a swimming stroke, so named because the swimmer lies on one's side with asymmetric arm and leg motion. It is helpful as a lifesaving technique and is often used for long-distance swimming. The sidestroke allows the swimmer increa ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Free Lifesaving Society Lifesaving Society of Canada
Surf lifesaving Rescue

See also

References

External links