Rescue swimmer
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Though the moniker rescue swimmer may be applied to any number of water rescue professionals, the term is most often applied to personnel in the Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. All four services have personnel that are designated as rescue swimmers.
The U.S. Coast Guard trains helicopter rescue swimmers and boat based rescue swimmers to enter the water to assist victims in distress. Navy and Marine Corps rescue swimmers, sometimes referred to as "SAR Wet Crewman", do most of their work from aircraft carriers. The Air Force rescue swimmers are called PJs, or ParaRescue Jumpers, and perform not only sea based but also land based rescues as well.
U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers attracted international attention most recently during the rescue operations following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA and the surrounding areas. It was reported that in the first five days following Katrina, Coast Guard crews performed more than 36,000 rescue and hoist operations of Katrina victims stranded on rooftops and in flood water. This was reportedly more than the Coast Guard had rescued worldwide in over 50 years. President George W. Bush awarded participating members of the Coast Guard a Presidential Unit Citation and ribbon for their response to Hurricane Katrina.
[edit] Rescue Swimmers in the Media
The release of the 2006 motion picture, The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, introduced still more people to this small group of elite rescue workers.
While Katrina brought domestic and international news coverage to Coast Guard rescue swimmers and their crews, their story was first shown on television in a series of specials produced by Tam Communications, working in association with the Discovery Channel. Along with covering the history and the demanding training rescue swimmers must complete, the specials also feature dramatic on-scene footage of several heroic rescues.
[edit] Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Training
Navy and Marine Corps rescue swimmer candidates attend the five week long Aviation Rescue Swimmer School in Pensacola, Florida.
The Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST) / Rescue Swimmer school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina is 18 weeks long, along with 3 required weeks at the Coast Guard's Health Services Technician (HST) in Petaluma, California where ASTs learn to be qualified EMTs.
The Coast Guard rescue swimmer training program is among the most rigorous in the military. It is often cited as being one of the most challenging of all special operations schools in the entire United States military. Reportedly only 75 Coast Guardsmen attend the school each year, with fewer than half graduating, making an attrition rate almost as high as Army Ranger and Navy SEAL training programs.
Unique among all the other military services, the Coast Guard allows women to serve as rescue swimmers. However, only three are presently qualified, and women must meet the same physical, endurance and performance standards as men in order to earn a qualification.
The Air Force also has a notoriously rigorous rescue swimmer program called Parajumpers (PJs). Coast Guard rescue operations occasionally use Air Force PJ teams, particularly for long-range rescues given the Air Force's better-equipped helicopters.
