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Tobago (CERT) Water Rescue Training Program |
The
Tobago CERT Water Rescue Training Program began on the February13, 2006 with a
total of thirty eight (38) students in training. Students were taught to rescue
victims who encountered difficulty while bathing or any accident involving
water, where rescue aid is required.
The training program was designed to deal with the risk factors that have been identified as "real situations". These situations deal with flooding, boating accidents and falling accidents at the shoreline or near to shore. The training course was developed to address each situation and the particular problems they present. Basic skills were taught such as equipment use and care, proper PPE for exercises, the use of water throw bags, victim handling and standard medical issues as they pertain to water rescue.
Many specific skills were taught such as the assembly of the inflatable boats, the removal of a patient in a wheelchair from a flooded area and the removal of a patient who is confined to a bed from a flooded area. The students were taught how to retrieve a victim from the water into the boat. How to put a victim onto a backboard in the water, and then put the backboard into the boat in both shallow and deep water.
The students learned the challenges of launching the inflatable boats in rough sea conditions, how to maneuver the boats in rough seas and close quarters. Many scenarios were completed; simulating "real world" situations where the students needed to develop and then execute plans.
This training program had a total of 60 contact hours with Mr. Paul Seguin as Instructor with the assistance of Mr. Allan Stewart and Mr. Callistus Joseph. Ms. Christine Roberts provided the much needed program coordination and administration.
The students were able to practice with flotation devices such as Float Cans, Spinal Boards and Personal Floatation Devices. Two (2) inflatable boats equipped with a 15 Horse Power Mercury engines were the vehicle of choice for the course. These boats provide swift water rescues as they were able to access difficult to reach casualties such as being trapped on cliffs or in sea caves.
This course used the knots learnt in an earlier high angle rescue course and the medical skills learnt in an earlier Emergency Medical Team (EMT) program as building blocks on which the new skills were applied.
The following footage highlights the training program:
