Rescue swimmer
Arguably the most widely recognized team of rescue-swimmer operators, the United States Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/Helicopter Rescue Swimmer team is trained to respond in extreme rescue situations, such as medical evacuations, downed aviators, sinking vessels, and hurricanes.
For comparison, the attrition rate for United States Navy SEAL selection and training is about 75%[1] AST School in Elizabeth City, North Carolina lasts for 24 weeks, and includes intense physical fitness, long hours of pool fitness and instruction, extreme water-confidence drills, and classroom instruction.
Rescue swimmers at Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska, must maintain the EMT-Intermediate level of proficiency due to the remoteness of their operational area and the number of medical evacuations performed by that unit each year.
[4][5][6] In May 2013, Karen Voorhees was the first woman to be advanced to chief petty officer in the rating of aviation survival technician since women were integrated into Coast Guard active duty service in 1973.
[citation needed] Aviation Rescue Swimmer The U.S. Navy was the first branch to train aircrew for the specific purpose of being deployed via helicopters into the water to assist survivors to be hoisted into a helo.
In the 70s, Navy rescue swimmers were initially trained in first aid, SERE, JEST,[clarification needed] CSAR, and SAR.
[citation needed] Vetting Process - Before joining the United States Navy to become an Aviation Rescue Swimmer, you must first pass certain physical and mental tests.
After arriving to their respective squadrons, Aviation Rescue Swimmers are required annually to perform a SAR fitness test.
SAR test - Although an aviation Rescue Swimmer's primary job is to search and recover downed pilots, there is a multitude of training for tactics.
Minimum Physical Requirements - A Surface Rescue Swimmer is typically attached to a United States Naval Vessel and serves as their SAR asset.
For example, a BM (Boatswain's mate (United States Navy)) can apply to attend Surface Rescue Swimmer School.
Two women, Kelly Mogk ’86 and Jody Vander Hyden ’89, were graduates and swimmers following the Navy’s course in earlier years.
As of 2022, Erica Gibson, a 17-year enlisted Sailor, became the first female aviation Navy Search and Rescue (SAR) swimmer to promote to the rank of senior chief petty officer.
Pararescue is a notoriously rigorous CSAR (combat search and rescue) unit, with eight out of every ten candidates failing the indoctrination course.
SAR TECHs who demonstrate the required knowledge, experience, and leadership skills may also be selected as an instructor at the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue (CFSSAR), at 19 Wing Comox, British Columbia.
The final operational phase is used to evaluate the individual's ability to use all previously learned skills and will be the deciding factor in awarding the qualification to Wings Standard.
Other rescue swimmers are members of the Danish Navy and operate from Westland Lynx Mk 90B helicopters based on Thetis-class ocean patrol vessels in the waters around Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and, occasionally, Iceland.
[10] The release of the 2006 motion picture The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, introduced viewers to this small group of elite rescue workers.
The rescue swimmer's name is John Baker, the name of a former Navy SAR School Instructor at NAS North Island in the early 1980s.
The Japanese film series Umizaru depicts the development of the main character, a coast guard officer, as a rescue swimmer.
The actress who played the main character in the live-action film based on the same work, Yuko Takayama, was the orphan of an Air Self-Defense Force medic who was killed in the line of duty.
On the History Channel reality show Top Shot, one of the marksmen is U.S. Navy rescue swimmer Jamie Franks.
President George W. Bush awarded the active, reserve, auxiliary and civilian employees of the Coast Guard a Presidential Unit Citation and ribbon for their response to Hurricane Katrina.
Swiss pilot Yves Rossy, the person who had accepted the Webtel.mobi Intercontinental Challenge, had to ditch into the North Atlantic Ocean midway through the 30-mile flight from Morocco to Spain after his wing was destabilized by a large cumulonimbus cloud.
On the day of the rehearsal, the rough-sea state and high winds forced Sterzel and Eloff to exit into the North Atlantic Ocean from the skid of a Bell helicopter at a height of over 40 feet, which causes significant water-entry shock on entry.
The water-entry shock was reduced only by their succeeding in entering the water at an optimal entry angle despite the high wind and an unstable exit platform.
