Rescue swimmer

Rescue swimmer is a designation given to Rescue Specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue Swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land, or in the air. This highly specialized position is extremely challenging and requires an individual to be mentally and physically suited for very stressful and dangerous situations.

The USA has several large divisions of the military organized by land, air, and sea operations. Each of these divisions has their own training and deployment programs for Rescue Swimmers. U.S. Military Rescue Swimmers are considered part of the Special Operations community.

Arguably the most widely recognized team of Rescue Swimmer operators, the elite United States Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician (AST)/ Helicopter Rescue Swimmers are called upon to respond in the most extreme rescue situations. High seas, medevacs, downed aviators, sinking vessels, and even hurricanes are just a few of the deadly scenarios that Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are trained to handle. The Coast Guard's entire team of ASTs are composed of only about 350 active duty members, and only 900 members altogether having ever passed the training to become Helicopter Rescue Swimmers since the mid-1980s. The entire list of graduates can be found here. [1]

AST school in Elizabeth City, North Carolina is 24 grueling weeks long, and includes intense physical fitness, long hours of pool fitness and instruction, extreme water confidence drills, and classroom instruction. The Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer training program is very challenging and is one of the toughest U.S. Military training courses. Reportedly, only 75–100 Coast Guard personnel attend the school each year. The attrition rate in some years has been as high as 80%, though the 10 year average is just over 54%. Prospective U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers are physically conditioned to meet extremely high physical fitness standards. About half of prospective candidates actually make it to AST "A" School. Upon graduation, candidates must attend seven weeks at the Coast Guard's Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) school in Petaluma, California, where ASTs become EMT qualified. 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 medevacs performed by that unit each year. Once stationed at a Coast Guard Air Station, Apprentice ASTs must complete 6 months of qualification on their respective airframe before moving on to finish their Rescue Swimmer syllabus and becoming Journeymen.

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