Harbor Patrol Teaches the Art of Rescue

For about four hours Thursday, rangers and sheriff’s deputies, lifeguards and port-patrol officers from around the state were dumped into the ocean off Ventura at high speed, dragged behind personal watercraft and made to right capsized vessels.

It was all for a good cause, as deputies with the Ventura Harbor Patrol conducted open-water rescue training, said Ventura Harbor Master Operations Manager Scott Miller.

The course, which began Monday and ends today, also includes training in law enforcement, accident investigation, firefighting, navigation and boat handling.

Under an agreement with the state Department of Boating and Waterways, the Harbor Patrol has been conducting the courses since 1987. The only other agency in the state to offer such classes is the San Diego Lifeguard Department.

“They learn how to operate a lot of boats and they learn a lot of useful techniques,” Miller said.

Upon completion of the classes, participants receive a master of open-water rescue certificate.

One of the techniques, a high-speed lifeguard drop from a motorboat, was demonstrated by Casey Owens, a lifeguard from San Diego. Rescuers use this technique to place a lifeguard near a person in distress in the surf line, Miller said. With Owens crouched on the swim step on the boat’s stern, the boat accelerated to about 25 knots. Owens was given the signal by an instructor and rolled off the step onto his back.

“This is a good way to get the swimmer in and the rescue boat out quickly,” Miller said.

Participants also learned to use a sling, or parbuckle, to turn a capsized boat over. “Trying to get it flipped over is really a pain if you don’t use the right technique,” Miller said.

Paul Richards, a deputy with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, said the training is good for any officer who works for an agency near water.

“I think it helps to know these techniques when mutual aid is requested,” said Richards, a certified scuba diver.

Tom Swanson, a reserve officer with the Port San Luis Harbor Patrol in Avila Beach, said: “Statewide, this is the course to take.”

Despite the hard work involved, most of the participants enjoyed the training. “It’s hard not to think of this as a working vacation,” Swanson said.