Responding to dangerous situations is an accepted part of law enforcement. Officers often face life and death situations that arise in a variety of locations. Sometimes those locations include retention ponds. Unfortunately, many police officers don’t receive training in water rescues, nor do they have the equipment necessary to help drowning victims.
The good news is that starting in October, officers in Westfield will be exposed to water safety training skills by the YMCA in Westfield that are designed to help save lives.
“Although this is not certified lifeguard training, officers will learn some of the basic rules of water safety,” said Shannon Russell, the Executive Director of the YMCA in Westfield. “One of those rules is to throw before you go. Our training will teach officers to never enter the water when a rescue can be performed with a safer method. For example, the first option is to throw the victim a flotation device that will allow you to pull them to safety.”
Other course objectives will include the following:
- Basic swim strokes and basic water safety
- Reaching assists
- Reaching extension assist
- Throwing assists
- Swim conditioning in pants and boots with survival skills
Rush
“We want to make sure our officers improve their water safety competency,” said Westfield Chief of Police Joel Rush. “Knowing how to respond to water emergencies will give us the confidence we need to be better public servants.”