Rescue 3 International: Who are we?

Rescue 3 International was founded in 1979 after a California search and rescue team nearly lost one of its own during a water rescue. Nearly 30 years later our mission remains the same: to provide flood, water, and rope rescue training to individuals and organizations with an emphasis on ways to keep rescuers from becoming victims. As a result, Rescue 3 has risen to become the recognized leader in water and flood rescue, training over 150,000 students throughout the US and 32 foreign countries. Known for our dynamic curriculum and utilizing state of the art techniques. Rescue 3 is constantly developing new and innovative rescue techniques, improving on old techniques, and working with manufacturers to develop equipment to meet rescuers needs.

One thing that sets us apart is our dedication to providing students with practical, real world experience. To this end, all of Rescue 3's instructors are professionals working in the disciplines they teach. Our instructors include paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and search and rescue team members, as well as river guides and military personnel. While Rescue 3's instructors come from a wide variety of fields, they all share a passion for saving lives and teaching others to do the same.

Why do I need water rescue training?

Each year floods throughout the world kill thousands of people and affect millions. During these incidents, rescuers are often called upon to perform daring rescues. Without proper training, these rescuers put their lives, as well as the lives of the people they are rescuing, in enormous peril. However, with proper training and practice, rescuers can greatly reduce the risks to themselves, as well as tremendously increasing their chances of affecting a successful rescue.

Rescue 3's courses focus on keeping rescuers from becoming victims, as well as safe and effective ways to perform rescues. We believe that preplanning and training are the keys to a safe and effective rescue, and at that our ultimate success is measured in every rescuer returning home safe at the end of a rescue.

Rescue 3 International

Instruction Philosophy

Rescue 3 International is an organization focused on providing practical, real world experience. To this end, all of Rescue 3's instructors are professionals working in the disciplines they teach. They include paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement officers, Search and Rescue team members, as well as river guides and military personnel. While Rescue 3's instructors come from a wide variety of fields, they all share the drive to save lives and teach others life saving techniques. The following few pages outline Rescue 3's philosophical viewpoint concerning rescue and rescue instruction, which applies equally to instructors, staff and students alike.

INTERRELATEDNESS OF DISCIPLINES

There are a number of rescue disciplines. These include dive rescue and recovery, tower rescue, trench rescue, cliff rescue, cave and mine rescue, swiftwater rescue, just to name a few. It is important to remember that none of these disciplines stands on its own. Rather, each has its own unique aspects while borrowing applicable techniques from other disciplines. For instance, both high rise and high angle rescue contain skills developed for vertical wall rescue, high rise firefighting, structural engineering, heavy rescue, dirt cliff rescue and many more.

INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

A. Rescue instructors must be actively involved in what they teach. The old adage which says "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach" cannot be applied to a field where things are certain not to go by the book. Rescue is something that requires a combination of knowledge and experience, and therefore must be taught by someone who has actually experienced what he or she is teaching. Additionally, instructors must continually research and develop their skills, both through their own initiative and by exchanging information with other knowledgeable professionals. Active involvement is the first key in being a competent rescue instructor.

B. It is essential that rescue instructors impress upon their students that successful rescues are a mixture of four things:

1. Experience
2. Judgment
3. Practice
4. Training

Because rescue instructors only provide training, students must continue to practice their skills and refresh their training if they expect to be proficient following training. Therefore, after an instructor has trained a student in a particular skill, the rescue instructor no longer has responsibility for that student's knowledge if the student agrees that they understand the skill. To assure that both the instructor and student agree that the student comprehends the skill, Rescue 3 utilizes a mutually signed skill sheet, similar to that used by pilots, SCUBA divers and paramedics.

Rescuers are advised to maintain a record of their training and experience, as time-consuming as that may be. A bound volume, with proper narratives and maps, will serve as a memory refresher in the event of legal problems, as well as proof of ongoing training and expertise. This proof can be instrumental during litigation, and the rescue instructor may request to see it before contributing to the defense. The bottom line is that training in and of itself is not enough. Practice and experience are vital to being a proficient and competent rescuer.

C. Both students and instructors should always be open to constructive criticism and new techniques. Even seasoned instructors always have room for improvement and many valuable rescue methods have been developed by students during rescue classes. The idea is to share ideas constructively in a forum where everyone feels safe to share ideas.

D. There is no one way to do any kind of rescue. Rescuers should avoid the dogmatic approach, and instructors are obliged to expose and train students in as many different skills and possible scenarios as they can. Protocols are acceptable only if they allow rescuers the discretion to use their best judgment at the scene.

E. The nature of rescue training is such that when a student completes rescue training he/she is not considered to be a proficient rescuer. Like a rookie cop or fireman, a rookie rescuer should acknowledge the need for further experience and training. If a student completes a rescue class and then considers himself a competent rescuer, that student is in for a rude awakening and the rescue instructor has done him a disservice. Rescue is not something that can be seen once and then done. It requires a professional attitude and dedication to self improvement and consistent practice.

RESCUES AND THE RESCUER

A. Rescues should be undertaken using the lowest risk method first, while setting up higher risk methods as available alternatives should the first attempts fail.

B. All personnel should assure themselves that they are prepared to:

1. Rescue themselves first. Self rescue is always the first priority. A rescuer does no one any good if they become another victim.

2. Back up team members and rescue them as the second priority.

3. Keep bystanders and witnesses from becoming victims. While the public may mean well, they can often make a rescue situation more complicated then it already is.

4. Only after the rescuer is assured of the safety of himself, his team and the public should the rescue of the victim take place. While a rescuer who dies in the line of duty is undoubtedly a hero, it is far better to lose the victim, who may or may not survive anyway, than to put personnel and the public at risk.

C. During a rescue, once a victim has been contacted, don't lose him again! Case law tends to favor culpability for abandonment, even if all efforts possible were attempted. Adequate training and practice and thorough documentation will lower liability for the rescuer, however in our increasingly punitive society, there is no way to say how the courts will rule. Even with liability insurance and local laws protecting rescuers, most of the time neither provides adequate individual legal protection.

D. In order to successfully affect a rescue, it is necessary to complete four steps in order. We refer to these as the four components of SAR (Search and Rescue).

1. Locate the victim. This may be done by simply looking over the bank and spotting a rolled-over vehicle and its trapped occupants or be infinitely more complicated.

2. Reach the victim. This could mean walking across the road or may involve ascending a steep cliff face which could be extremely time consuming.

3. Assess, stabilize and prepare victim for extrication. While it is not necessary for the rescue team to be highly trained medics, the rescue team should have the ability to move a trained medic to the victim. The medic may have no rescue skills at all and in this case rescuers should have the skills to assist the medic, even if it means moving him medic around like baggage.

4. Extricate the victim. This may be nothing more than moving the victim a short distance to the road or a more complex maneuver such as lowering a litter down the side of a canyon.

Regardless of how simple of complex the rescue is, all four steps must be completed in order for a rescue to be successful.

REACH, THROW, ROW, GO AND TOW, HELO

The following is an axiom developed by Rescue 3 International to present low to high risk rescue options. While, as always, these steps should be viewed simply as a guideline, they do give rescuers a good place to start when sizing up a rescue situation.

1. Reach - Try to reach the victim from shore by extending a pole, ladder or piece of inflated fire hose. Since the rescuer is not in the water, the risk to him is obviously very low.

2. Throw - Throw a flotation device to the swimmer. In the river, this usually refers to the throwbag, which all rescue teams should have and train on regularly.

3. Row - Use a boat to row out to the victim. Make sure that the boat is appropriate for affecting a swiftwater rescue.

4. Go and Tow - These refer to in-water rescues. Since a significant number of would-be rescuers drown each year attempting to rescue someone, this option is considered a high risk option which should be utilized only after lower risk options have been exhausted.

5. Helo - While professional helicopter crews freely admit that they are willing to attempt anything, they are also the first to counsel that local rescuers should be attempting all other options first while the helicopter is en-route. The bottom line is to use helicopters conservatively and not rely on them as the primary rescue technique.

J. MICHAEL (MIKE) TURNBULL

Mike is president of both Rescue 3 International and The Rescue Source. Since his purchase of Rescue 3 International in 1990, he has overseen the growth and development of the company into a world leader in rescue training.  With its programs and classes being offered in 34 countries around the world Mike enjoys the challenges of developing new markets and classes. 

Since the inception of The Rescue Source in 1990 the company has become the “go to store” for the professional rescuer and creating and developing new products has been a passion for Mike. 

Besides Rescue 3 International and The Rescue Source, Mike is also involved in Spanish Oak Vineyards, a small vineyard.  His favorite past time of late has been spending time with his twin grandsons and enjoying his 160 acre ranch in Oregon.

Philip Turnbull has thirty-five years in emergency services, with twenty-two of those as fire chief in Josephine County, Oregon. He serves as the Director of Curriculum Development for Rescue 3 International, is the author of numerous training manuals and articles, and has traveled worldwide both as an Instructor Trainer and consultant.

Phil has always been active in community service, currently serving Josephine County as co-chair on the Emergency Management Board and on the Search & Rescue Executive Board.

Professional memberships include the International Association of Fire Chief’s, the National Fire Protection Association, and a life membership in the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association. In 2000 he received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Josephine County Emergency Medical Services Board.

He and his wife Lynn have been married for 32 years, and have raised six children, three through foreign adoption. In his spare time he enjoys rafting and hiking with his children.