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Submerged Victim Rescue
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A submerged victim rescue is a recovery against a clock that started before the guard noticed. Everything in the technique is about shortening the search, because the swim down and back is the part you cannot speed up.
What are the steps of a submerged victim rescue?
1. Fix the last seen point. Before entering, take a reference from two fixed objects on the deck or shore. In clear pool water you can see the casualty; in a lake you cannot, and the point you fix is the only information the search has.
2. Enter and swim to the point. Compact jump for unknown depth, feet first.
3. Surface dive. Feet-first or head-first depending on depth and control. Feet-first is safer where the bottom is uncertain.
4. Secure the casualty. Get a firm hold under the arms or around the chest. A single-handed grip on clothing fails on the way up.
5. Control the ascent. Push off the bottom, kick, and keep the casualty’s head in line. Do not release to adjust your grip mid-ascent.
6. Airway first at the surface. Roll face up, clear the face of water, get the tube under them, signal and tow.
When you cannot see the bottom
This changes the rescue into a search. Organised line searches with multiple rescuers, linked, feet on the bottom, sweeping from the last seen point. It is drilled in advance because nobody organises a search well for the first time during one.
Why the prerequisite brick test exists
The 10 pound brick from 7 to 10 feet is a direct simulation of this rescue: dive without goggles, retrieve negatively buoyant weight, return on your back with the face clear. A candidate who cannot do it with a brick cannot do it with a person.
Assume a spinal injury
You do not know why the casualty submerged. Support the head in line during the roll at the surface, because a shallow-water dive injury and a medical collapse look identical underwater.
Submerged victim rescue: frequently asked questions
How do you perform a submerged victim rescue?
For a submerged victim rescue, fix the last seen point against two fixed references, enter feet first, surface dive, secure the casualty under the arms with a firm two-handed hold, control the ascent keeping the head in line, then clear the airway at the surface and tow to extrication.
What if you cannot see the bottom?
It becomes a search rather than a rescue. Linked line searches sweeping from the last seen point are used, and they are drilled in advance because they cannot be improvised under stress.
Why is the brick test part of certification?
Because it simulates this rescue directly: a dive without goggles to retrieve a negatively buoyant object from 7 to 10 feet and return with the face clear of the water.
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