AD 2017 Q3

DIVE SLATE
SO OTHERS
MAY LIVE
Aviation Survival Technician
(AST) school candidates enter
an 18-week course designed
to stress, challenge and
evaluate rescue swimmers.
Courses begin with as
many as 15 candidates but
commonly graduate only one
or two (or none at all). It is an
extraordinarily rigorous course,
both physically and mentally.
gained in Savannah, the heart of it was at the Aviation
Survival Technician school. At AST school, which is in
a cavernous building on Air Station Elizabeth City in
North Carolina, classes of young men (and occasionally
women) enter an 18-week course designed to test,
stress, train, condition and ultimately drop or pass the
hopeful rescue swimmer recruits. Classes start with
more than 15 recruits but may graduate only one or
two candidates (or occasionally none at all).
Every recruit who participates in the course,
regardless of whether he or she passes, undergoes an
evolution that involves self-doubt. The doubt might be
mental or physical. It may be encountered underwater
while sharing a breath and pushing a brick from one
end of the pool to the other. It might be encountered
when hanging from the pull-up bar while a shouting
instructor demands more repetitions. Or doubt might
be encountered when fans and lights transform the
pool surface to more closely resemble a rough sea, and
six people with unknown injuries need to be rescued.
I know this because I spent a week in close contact
with a group of recruits and witnessed both doubt and
determination sweep across faces. Some of my strongest
images were taken in these moments, and I can attest
that while each recruit wanted to do another pull-up or
swim another length underwater, they generally didn’t
want to do it with a camera in their face.
In the extreme, an aircrew flies through the black of
night in typically adverse Alaskan weather conditions in
which snow and wind combine to make flying a straight
course challenging. Below the helicopter, the same snow
falls, but there are also waves, towering, breaking and
freezing. But when the helicopter gets where it is going,
the door opens, and a swimmer jumps out.
I began this project fascinated by the thought
that rescue swimmers require a helicopter and a
three-person aircrew to complete their mission. And
conversely, a multimillion-dollar aircraft requires an
athlete in a pair of fins to fulfill its mission. But after
seeing the training in Elizabeth City, I understand that
a rescue depends not on a powerful helicopter or a
powerful swimmer, but rather on a team of people who
have decided that this is their life’s work.
This entire hovering assembly of man and machine
advances and defines the Coast Guard’s motto “so
others may live.” AD
PREPARE FOR THE WORST
Emergencies such as the shallow-water blackout Tim Calver
experienced in Bimini are all too common. Both training and
quick action are necessary in such cases to prevent serious
injury or death. The same is true of many injuries that occur
in the water: Nonfatal drowning, hypothermia, decompression
illness and cardiac and pulmonary problems can become
unmanageable without quick, appropriate interventions.
People who spend a lot of time in aquatic environments must
be trained and able to respond to emergencies when the
nearest help could be more than an hour away.
The DAN ® Diving First Aid for Professional Divers (DFA
Pro) course is one way to prepare yourself to respond to
these kinds of emergencies. Designed for professionals
and volunteers who need to be prepared for the unique
and challenging nature of aquatic environments, the
course is USCG approved and meets or exceeds first aid
and CPR requirements for both merchant mariners and
diving professionals. The course provides training in the
management of aquatic emergencies such as scuba diving
incidents, injuries caused by marine life and neurological
and cardiopulmonary emergencies.
For more information or to find a DFA Pro instructor near
you, visit DAN.org/training.
22 | SUMMER 2017