Two lifeguards of the German DLRG patrolling bathing area of a lake on stand-up paddling boards

Surface water rescue is defined as the

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 ...

of a person who is afloat on the surface of a body of water. Within

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, any significant sized body of water, whether in mid-summer or winter, is considered cold water. Although multiple agencies respond to such rescues, including

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

, fire department, and

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

, their functions, responsibilities, and level of training for such a technical rescue are quite different. As such, a best-practice will identify and adopt industry standards that include specific training and equipment. This supports the opinion that any individual entering the water for the purpose of rescue should be trained to the level of a Rescue Technician.Dictionary
/ref> Personnel directly involved with support should be qualified to a minimum of an operations level while everyone else working in and around the scene should hold a minimum of an awareness qualification. As with any rescue discipline, the knowledge and skill required to perform a rescue is not neatly packaged. For example, while performing a surface water rescue, a rescue team may utilize many skills that include search techniques, rope-work and rigging, emergency patient care, and a functional knowledge of confined space, swift-water, and dive recovery. Therefore, an effective rescue team will be trained with multiple technical disciplines. In Canada, the standard for professional rescue is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 1006). This standard is used by the fire service and other professional public service rescue agencies. Access-Rescue Canada delivers NFPA compliant instructor-training programs to these public service agencies.

Notes

Rescue Search and rescue {{Emergency-services-stub

See also

Notes