Authorities Catch the Latest Wave in Better Beach Patrols : Ventura: Twenty-one employees of law enforcement and rescue agencies learn how to use jet skis in their work.

Ventura Police Officer David Wilson dabbed a tissue to his bloody nose as he surveyed the beach.

A wave, not a criminal, had injured him Tuesday as he learned to maneuver a jet ski through the surf.

Wilson, normally assigned to car and foot patrols at the Ventura Harbor, was training to use personal water vehicles, such as the Yamaha Waverunner or the Kawasaki Jet Ski for ocean rescue and patrol.

His troubles came as he maneuvered one of the small vehicles, propelled by a jet of water and steered much like a motorcycle, through an obstacle course of buoys.

“I went down off a wave, hit the water and smacked my face,” he said.

In spite of his bloodied nose, Wilson was impressed with the craft. Its small size made it better suited for rescue operations in shallow water than conventional boats, he said.

“If you can’t get a boat close enough,” he said, “these things really come in handy.”

The three-day program, sponsored by the state Department of Boating and Waterways, drew 21 men from 10 law enforcement and rescue agencies. Some agencies are already using the vehicles to rescue drowning swimmers or patrol crowded beaches.

Starting Monday, participants learned to steer, right the craft after they had flipped in the surf and rescue swimmers--simulated by buoys resembling large blue balloons.

They also practiced carrying people on rescue boards, fiberglass sleds attached to the back of the craft. Shawn Stuebner--president of the Ontario, Calif.-based company conducting the training--said in an accident, rescuers could pull a victim from the water onto the board and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Chuck Kirchner, an enforcement-training coordinator with the Boating and Waterways Department, said law enforcement agencies are just beginning to realize the potential of the craft they once derided as the “dirt bike of the waterway.”

“It’s kind of evolved from being a toy on the water to being a good tool to use,” he said.

Some of the wet-suited police officers, lifeguards and others attending the session, just south of the Ventura Pier, had experience with this new tool. Chris Graham, a Newport Beach lifeguard, once used a jet ski to rescue a swimmer off a beach in Australia. The craft took practice to master, he said.

“Every time you’re on one of these things, it’s fun, but at the same time, it’s dangerous because of the environment.”

Many of the students, however, were new to jet skis, in part because their organizations do not have them. The Ventura Police Department, for example, has no personal watercraft, Wilson said. The Ventura Harbor Patrol has one, leased for free from Yamaha through a special program for rescue agencies.

John Picken, an officer with the Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol, said jet skis also help officers patrol jet ski users, who sometimes push their speed to dangerous extremes.

“They do create a problem with people speeding on them,” he said. By matching their equipment, he said, “You get a better rapport with the jet ski community.”

In nighttime training, Stuebner said, trainers and students were to practice their daytime drills with only helmet lights and headlights on the craft for illumination.

Safely out of the water, Wilson said the training session was well worth his time and the state’s effort.

“It’s excellent training,” he said. “This is the new thing in water enforcement and rescue, and I think you’ll see a lot more around the state and around the country.”