Aquatics

Lifesaving And Emergency Equipment
What you need to know about

By Jennifer Patterson-Lorenzetti

No one likes to contemplate the possibility of a water-related accident, but the time you spend this spring preparing lifesaving and emergency equipment may mean a safer summer season.

Sorting through the variety of available equipment can be challenging. “There is a lot of junk being marketed and distributed,” says Gerald M. Dworkin, consultant for New Hampshire-based Aquatics Safety & Water Rescue, a developer of aquatics-safety educational curricula. “If a backboard has more flex than a diving board, it is not appropriate.”

Dworkin suggests camps prepare for three potential water-related emergencies: spinal immobilization, hypoxia and water rescue.

Spinal Immobilization
In some water-rescue and emergency cases, it is essential to immobilize the accident victim until hospital personnel can determine whether there has been a spinal injury. To handle these cases, the camp should be prepared with sufficient equipment to pass him or her off to emergency personnel and, eventually, the hospital, without allowing excess movement and additional injury.

Equipment for these situations includes a rigid backboard with a maximum length of 72 inches and width of 18 inches (any larger than that and the backboard may not fit in an ambulance or on an emergency flight helicopter). The backboard should be plastic to allow for decontamination, and include a strap or harness system as well as an attached head-immobilization system that will not bend or twist.