The old USRowing Safety video is being replaced. I know that some of the older rowers will want to keep it around just to see the expressions on the junior rowers’ faces when they see wood boats and oars. “Wood, they made boats out of wood?”
Along with new images of composite boats and hatchet blades, we have included stronger recommendations based on information from the United States Coast Guard, an outside assessment of our overall risk management policies and procedures and practical experiences in the rowing community.
USRowing is pushing safety training for coaches and administrators. USRowing and the Red Cross have partnered to make CPR and First Aid for Coaches certification easier to obtain than ever before. From the Red Cross icon on our Web site, coaches can sign up and take First Aid for Coaches entirely online. Coaches can complete almost all of the CPR online, followed with a short practical at any Red Cross location.
The First Aid for Coaches certification was developed by the Red Cross and the United States Olympic Committee. First Aid for Coaches covers many of the injuries in the standard first-aid course but adds topics more specific to athletes, like overuse injuries, muscle pulls and “return to play” guidelines. USRowing was the first Olympic sports association to partner with the Red Cross, and we are proud to have more members taking the online courses than any other sport.
Another recommendation we make in the new Safety DVD is for everyone in the launch and coxswains to have flotation devices. Having enough personal floatation devices (PFD) for everyone on the water has been a standard recommendation for a very long time, but it is important to take the next step and put on a pfd when driving or riding in the launch. Many rowing programs have adopted this recommendation by the United States Coast Guard as a rule for motorboat operation at their programs.
To bring you the best flotation gear on the market today, USRowing has partnered with Mustang Survival. Mustang is the industry leader for quality and innovation for survival flotation. USRowing is currently selling the survival suits and the inflatable life vests. The suits will not only help you survive being thrown into the water for a long period of time, they will help you survive long practices by keeping you dry and insulated from the rain and cold. The inflatable vests are great for coaching in the spring and summer.
The other person sitting all practice and not generating much body heat is the coxswain. Obviously, a Mustang suit is ideal for coxswains, but if they are not wearing a Mustang suit, they are probably wearing layers and layers of clothes -- clothes that will pull them to the bottom of the lake if they fall in. Flotation is important for coxswains and should be provided. Mustang inflatable vests are lightweight and unobtrusive, making a great solution for coxswains.
As a rower or a coach, we face the same dangers as much of the boating community, but we face an even higher risk than the average boater due to the nature of our boat and the sheer number of hours we are on the water. As a rower, coach or administrator, you have responsibility for the safe operation of your program. As you watch the new safety DVD, please take the time to think about how the information shown in the DVD applies to your program. Not everything expressed in the DVD will have a direct application to your particular situation nor could we foresee all situations and voice them in the DVD, but with a little creativity, you can adapt the concepts to fit your needs. Then, take advantage of the partnerships we have created and the resources on our safety page to help provide the safest environment possible to enjoy rowing.