As personal watercraft (Jet Skis and similar devices) become an increasingly common tool of lifesavers worldwide, the United States Lifesaving Association has published, “Training and Equipment Guidelines for Rescuers Using Personal Watercraft as a Rescue Tool. This document is available at no cost in the Lifeguard Library section of the USLA.

As personal watercraft (Jet Skis and similar devices) become an increasingly common tool of lifesavers worldwide, the United States Lifesaving Association has published, “Training and Equipment Guidelines for Rescuers Using Personal Watercraft as a Rescue Tool. This document is available at no cost in the Lifeguard Library section of the USLA.

In developing these guidelines, USLA brought together some of the most respected experts in personal watercraft rescue in the United States. This included, for example, professional lifeguards from the City and County of Honolulu’s Ocean Safety Division, the San Diego Lifeguard Service, and the Volusia County (Daytona Beach) Beach Patrol. These and other pioneers in use of personal watercraft for rescue developed the guidelines, which were published for comment over a six month period, edited, and approved by the USLA Board of Directors in November 2004.

These guidelines represent USLA recommended minimum standards for training and equipping personnel utilizing personal watercraft (PWC) as a rescue tool. USLA encourages agencies to exceed these standards, particularly in areas where challenges of environment or frequency of rescue exceed the norm. Adaptation to local circumstances is essential to the success of any open water rescue training program. Therefore, within these guidelines, training should be adapted to local conditions. Those trained under the guidelines should be considered fully qualified only in the local environments where training was conducted.

USLA is happy to share these guidelines with fellow ILS member federations. Although the USLA guidelines are copyrighted, they may be helpful to other organisations developing their own guidelines or used in whole, but attributed to USLA. These guidelines have been submitted to the ILS Rescue Committee for review and evaluation.