The Bronze Medallion was the flagship award of the Royal Life Saving Society UK until 2012. It was open to those age 14 years of age and over, and consists of resuscitation, theory questions on water safety, self rescue, and rescue principles, and a practical swimming pool based assessment.
A summary of the nine tests (Dec 2006) is as follows:
1. Suspected Drowning; includes mouth-to-mouth/nose resuscitation and the recovery position.
2. Suspected Heart Attack; includes mouth-to-mouth/nose resuscitation, CPR and the recovery position.
3. Land-Based Rescue; includes use of various rescue methods in which the rescuer remains on the shore. Non-Contact.
4. Wade/Swim Rescue; includes use of various rescue methods in which the rescuer has to enter the water. Non-Contact.
5. Timed Swim/Tow; 50m swim, 50m tow using item of clothing. Must be completed within 3min15secs from arriving at pool edge to casualty touching land. Non-Contact.
6. Contact Tow with Self-Defence; 20m swim, 20m tow during which the casualty will try to attack the rescuer at random. Close-Contact.
7. Unconscious Casualty; 20m swim, 20m tow with an unconscious casualty. Includes surface dive, water-based mouth-to-mouth/nose resuscitation, use of bystander for help to get casualty onto dry land and the recovery position.
8. Unknown Scenario; students face an unknown scenario in which they will have to successfully rescue at least two casualties from the water. Casualties may be in any condition and safety resources are varied.
9.You can apply for bronze medallion at the age of 12 as long as you have passed the rookie lifeguard course up to gold 3 otherwise you must be 14
9. Oral Examination; testing knowledge of basic first-aid, diagnosis, water safety etc.
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is generally performed by someone with basic medical training. Mental health first aid is an extension of the concept of first aid to cover mental health, while psychological first aid is used as early treatment of people who are at risk for developing PTSD. Conflict first aid, focused on preservation and recovery of an individual's social or relationship well-being, is being piloted in Canada.
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that results in directional motion. Humans can hold their breath underwater and undertake rudimentary locomotive swimming within weeks of birth, as a survival response.
Choking, also known as foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), is a phenomenon that occurs when breathing is impeded by a blockage inside of the respiratory tract. An obstruction that prevents oxygen from entering the lungs results in oxygen deprivation. Although oxygen stored in the blood and lungs can keep a person alive for several minutes after breathing stops, choking often leads to death.
Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer assistance. After successful resuscitation, drowning victims may experience breathing problems, vomiting, confusion, or unconsciousness. Occasionally, victims may not begin experiencing these symptoms until several hours after they are rescued. An incident of drowning can also cause further complications for victims due to low body temperature, aspiration of vomit, or acute respiratory distress syndrome.
A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/AED first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on requirements of their particular venue. In some areas, lifeguards are part of the emergency services system to incidents and in some communities, lifeguards may function as the primary EMS provider.
Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It also has a different start from the other three competition swimming styles. The swimming style is similar to an upside down front crawl or freestyle. Both backstroke and front crawl are long-axis strokes. In individual medley backstroke is the second style swum; in the medley relay it is the first style swum.
Human swimming typically consists of repeating a specific body motion or swimming stroke to propel the body forward. There are many kinds of strokes, each defining a different swimming style or crawl.
A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights to aid rescue at night.
Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, such as emergency medical technicians, and by qualified bystanders.
Swift water rescue is a subset of technical rescue dealing in white water river conditions. Due to the added pressure of moving water, swift water rescue involves the use of specially trained personnel, ropes and mechanical advantage systems that are often much more robust than those used in standard rope rescue. The main goal is to use or deflect the water’s power to assist in the rescue of the endangered person(s), as in most situations there is no easy way to overcome the power of the water.
Diver rescue, usually following an accident, is the process of avoiding or limiting further exposure to diving hazards and bringing a diver to a place of safety. A safe place generally means a place where the diver cannot drown, such as a boat or dry land, where first aid can be administered and from which professional medical treatment can be sought. In the context of surface supplied diving, the place of safety for a diver with a decompression obligation is often the diving bell.
Inflatable Rescue Boats (IRBs) are rubber boats with an outboard motor used in surf lifesaving. IRBs have been used for all forms of surf rescue, retrieval, and service by Surf Lifesaving in New Zealand, Australia, and Del Mar, California since the late 1980s.
ABC and its variations are initialism mnemonics for essential steps used by both medical professionals and lay persons when dealing with a patient. In its original form it stands for Airway, Breathing, and Circulation. The protocol was originally developed as a memory aid for rescuers performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the most widely known use of the initialism is in the care of the unconscious or unresponsive patient, although it is also used as a reminder of the priorities for assessment and treatment of patients in many acute medical and trauma situations, from first-aid to hospital medical treatment. Airway, breathing, and circulation are all vital for life, and each is required, in that order, for the next to be effective. Since its development, the mnemonic has been extended and modified to fit the different areas in which it is used, with different versions changing the meaning of letters or adding other letters.
Freediving blackout, breath-hold blackout, or apnea blackout is a class of hypoxic blackout, a loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoxia towards the end of a breath-hold dive, when the swimmer does not necessarily experience an urgent need to breathe and has no other obvious medical condition that might have caused it. It can be provoked by hyperventilating just before a dive, or as a consequence of the pressure reduction on ascent, or a combination of these. Victims are often established practitioners of breath-hold diving, are fit, strong swimmers and have not experienced problems before. Blackout may also be referred to as a syncope or fainting.
The Commonwealth Pool Lifesaving Championships is an international event where swimmers from around the Commonwealth take part in lifesaving sport events. The championship is under the auspices of The Royal Lifesaving Society which has Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as patron.
The Royal Life Saving Society UK awards several lifesaving awards indicating competence and ability.
The Bronze Medallion, signifying a qualified lifesaver, has been a lifesaving standard award of The Royal Life Saving Society - Australia and Surf Life Saving Australia for over one hundred years. It was developed in England in 1892. It has evolved over the years to accommodate the environmental conditions of Australia.
Life Saving Victoria is an Australian life saving organisation formed in 2002 from a merger of the Victorian Branch of the Royal Life Saving Society Australia and Surf Life Saving Victoria. Life Saving Victoria works to prevent drownings and other water related deaths and injuries in Victoria. Life Saving Victoria teaches local communities in Victoria about water safety, swimming and resuscitation. It also provides surf life saving services and patrols for beaches across the state. Life Saving Victoria is an emergency support agency to Victoria Police for water based emergencies.
Basic airway management are a set of medical procedures performed in order to prevent airway obstruction and thus ensuring an open pathway between a patient's lungs and the outside world. This is accomplished by clearing or preventing obstructions of airways, often referred to as choking, cause by the tongue, the airways themselves, foreign bodies or materials from the body itself, such as blood or aspiration. Contrary to advanced airway management, minimal-invasive techniques does not rely on the use of medical equipment and can be performed without or with little training. Airway management is a primary consideration in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, anaesthesia, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and first aid.
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