Introduction
We have some skills that we will in-service that are specific to the trials pools. I don’t believe in one size fits all skills and through experience of previous trials, we tweak skills to fit our needs. 2021 is no exception. We will take feedback on additional changes to make for future trials. However, the current skills are locked in for this time around.
We don’t have a preference on normal rescue skills (active, passive, submerged victims, etc). You are able to use the skills of whatever certifying agency you use. The only requirement is it meets the standard of care. When you attend in-service training, we will be looking for meeting the standard of care and not necessarily a uniform way for everyone….with the exception of the skills we list below. We expect everyone to perform victim removals and spinal (head, neck and back) injuries the same way.
Finally, if you watch these videos on your phone, I would encourage you to connect to WiFi. The file sizes total a few hundred megabytes.
Victim Removal
We will use a little older version of the skill. It seems to lend itself better to the large bulkheads in each end of the pool.
Deep Water Backboarding
The main skill we will focus on will be deep water backboarding. There is an added challenge with lane ropes and starting blocks in the way. The video below demonstrates how we will backboard for the swim trials.
Please note, the supervisor will assist with applying the straps and headpiece.
Taking a Victim Over Lane Ropes:
If we do have an incident involving suspected spinal cord injury during competition, we will be taking the victim over the lane ropes to the side of the pool. This will allow us to bypass the starting blocks and bulkhead altogether. In the case of a spinal cord injury during warm-ups, we will remove the lane ropes and take the victim out the side.