Getting A Lift

IN JULY, a class of professional mariners, most of whom happened to be MMA alumni, participated in a Fast Rescue Boat (FRB) course offered by Continuing Education. Training in the course provides skills required to meet U.S. Coast Guard certification to handle and maintain fast boats primarily for safety and search-and-rescue situations.

As part of the course, and probably the “most fun,” mariners don immersion (Gumby) suits and practice self-rescue and a combination of lifting techniques to bring others aboard, as shown here with a one-on-one lift in progress at the MMA waterfront.

“The most challenging parts of the course,” says Instructor Allison Tunick, “are learning the many regulations, and on the water, completing sector searches and pacing exercises where the FRB comes alongside a large vessel in order to transfer victims or equipment, or to reconnect to a mothership’s davit.”█

Photo: Billy R. Sims

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