III: How to use a surfboard to save a life

Note: this article-series was originally written for a Norwegian surf mag, so eh pardon myself if da English sounds out a small bit Scandinavian.

OK, so let’s start with the situation: we’ve realized that there’s someone in the water who needs our help. In this article, we’ll present a few tools to employ in a surf-rescue, whether they’re tired, in panic or even unconscious. It’s pretty rare that a specific technique perfectly matches a given situation. Regardless, here’s a couple of basic techniques as well as the pros and cons with each.     

We’ll start with a conscious victim. Usually it’s best to take your time in these situations: calm ‘em down and take the most chill way into the beach, not necessarily the shortest way in.

Technique A: Conscious person who’s not panicking:

1.       Talk to the person to make sure they’re not panicking.

2.       Turn around while explaining the following movements to the person.

3.       The person needs to flip around and grab onto your right leg with their left arm.

4.       The person then takes their right arm and bends it around your left leg. To keep grip you hold your legs up vertically.

Pros: This is a good one to pull a person over a longer distance, plus it’s prbably the easiest technique with a shortboard.

Cons: Can be super dangerous if the person goes into panic or if you get caught in the impact zone.

Technique B: A conscious victim who’s panicking

1.       Flip your board over before you get to the victim. Hold the board between the two of you because panicking swimmers can be unpredictable.

2.       Push the board towards the victim with the bottom up.

3.       Get the victim’s arms over the board.

4.       Try and calm ‘em down.

 Pros: This is a comfy position for the victim, where you can establish contact and calm the person down. This is a safe one for the rescuer because your board can be pushed to the victim from a distance.

Cons: Not a good position to be caught in if a clean-up set rolls in.

Technique C: Surf-rescue of a conscious victim

1.       Do all the steps in Technique B and wait until the person has calmed down. Then, let go of the arm that’s closest to the nose.

2.       Flip the board towards you to get the victim up on the board. You can use your knee to push the board underwater if the victim is real heavy.

3.       Turn the victim so they’re lying like they should on the board.

4.       Go for a paddle. With some practice, you can catch waves with the victim on the board like this.

 Pros: This is probably the best way to get someone who’s panicking into the beach. Totally fine if a wave comes along, just let it blast you in.

Cons: This technique needs some practice, especially if you’re gonna catch a wave in.

Alright alright alright, onto the unconscious victim. The main goal here is to get the victim up onto dry sand as quickly as possible, BUT it’s been shown that the victim has much better chances of survival if you give ‘em some breaths on the way in (I’ll find the reference for this at some point). So here we need to find a balance between giving breaths and hauling our asses into the beach. It ain’t simple, but here’s two techniques you can try:

Technique D: Surf-rescue of an unconscious victim, method I:

1.       Flip your board as you’re coming up to the vic, like in Technique B.

2.       Reach over the board to grab onto the victim’s arms.

3.       Get the victim’s arms and head up onto the board.  

4.       Give the victim 5 breaths (this is a whole lesson in-and-of itself, check the other lessons).

5.       Flip the board, like in Technique C, focusing on holding a tight grip on that back arm.

6.       Use an extra second to make sure the person is fully centered and then haul ass.

Technique E: Surf-rescue of an unconscious victim, method II:

1.       Reach over your flipped surfboard and grab your victim’s right hand with your right hand - "right-to-right".

2.       Flip the victim ‘round by pulling with your right arm.

3.       Flip the board back over with the victims shoulders on the board.

4.       Give ‘em 5 breaths.

5.       Center the victim on the board and paddle in real fast.

Note: Method I is easier to get the victim on the board, while method II is easier for giving breaths.

Considerations:

• All these techniques are possible with whatever kinda surfboard you got, but the more volume, the easier it is. Here’s some extra shots with the hardest technique on a potato chip:

• If the victim is unconscious and doesn’t have a board attached to ‘em, you can consider attaching your own leash to the victim. This’ll make it easier to find the victim if you lose ‘em. Only do this if you’re confident in your own swimming abilities without a board.

• Keep looking over your shoulder. One of the worst things ever is to get “caught with your pants down” as they say in Norwegian. Don’t end up in the impact zone without realizing it.

• If getting pummeled by a wave is imminent, make sure that the board or victim are NOT between you and the wave.

• A rescue never goes as planned and it can look pretty chaotic sometimes. It’s especially hard to get an unconscious victim up onto a shortboard. If it ends up looking like this, it’s all good, just keep trying. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Every rescue is unique and many situations require quick-thinking. The only way to develop these skills are through experience, either through practice or actual rescues. To be ready for these potential rescue-situations, it’s crucial to practice beforehand. You can do this via courses, training with local lifeguards or exercises with a surf-buddy between sets.

A big thanks to Claudio Banks for needing to be rescued so many times and Joshua D.W. Smith for providing professional-grade photography.