Aquatic Rescue and Safety: How to recognize, respond to, and prevent water-related injuries

Be prepared for water emergencies! If you are responsible for the welfare of those who spend time in or around the water—as an aquatic manager, scuba diving instructor, firefighter, law enforcement officer, or emergency rescue worker—or if you're a water sport enthusiast yourself, then you need to know how to prevent and manage aquatic accidents. This potentially lifesaving guide shows you how.

The only book of its kind, Aquatic Rescue and Safety provides detailed information on how to identify, treat, and prevent all types of submersion injuries, from drowning, hypothermia, and cramps to injuries of the heart, lungs, head, and spinal cord. It also contains special sections on dealing with watercraft-related and scuba diving injuries. Written by a veteran scuba diving instructor and water-rescue instructor trainer, the book presents the latest, most effective rescue and first aid procedures—techniques proven to save lives—for all water-related injuries.

The book also examines the causes of submersion injuries to help you understand how to prevent them. It provides specific steps that you can take to prevent accidents, and it gives you the tools you need to promote safety on the water, including tips for people who have children with them in aquatic settings.

Aquatic Rescue and Safety is ideal as a manual for water rescue training, as a resource for individual aquatic recreation enthusiasts, and as a reference for emergency preparedness. Whether you are simply an avid boater or swimmer or a member of a water rescue team, this book will help you acquire the knowledge and skills to prevent water-related injuries and save lives.

Dennis Graver has worked in aquatics for more than 25 years as a water rescue and scuba diving instructor. He is an emergency medical technician (EMT) and a senior EMS instructor, and he has current instructor training ratings for first aid, oxygen first aid, and scuba. He is a member of the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI), the Handicapped Scuba Association, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences, the Diver's Alert Network, and the Underwater Society of America. He is an active volunteer firefighter and EMT, district medical officer, and district CPR training coordinator for his local fire district.

Graver has authored 30 books and manuals including Scuba Diving and Scuba Diving First Aid. He has also contributed hundreds of articles to such magazines as Skin Diver, Sources, and Undercurrents as well as several NAUI technical publications.

He has won numerous awards including the Underwater Society of America Sports Education award, Outstanding EMS Instructor award, and NAUI Outstanding Contribution to Diving award. He has been an underwater photographer since 1970 and has been repeatedly recognized by the Underwater Photographic Society, and his photos have graced the covers of many magazines and illustrated several diving texts and audiovisual educational programs.

Graver has greatly influenced scuba diving with his development of a dive table multilevel diving technique for recreational diving and a breathing mask technique for diving rescue. He also has designed the NAUI Dive Time Calculator and the first PADI dive tables.

Graver is currently a member of the Undersea Medical Society, NAUI, the Handicapped Scuba Association, and the Divers Alert Network. Dennis and his wife, Barbara, reside in Camano Island, Washington.