OBSERVATION

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BY THE BOOK

How you observe the equipment in your care, persons, water and weather is your agreement with purpose and efficiency. It is a commitment.

Will you fulfill your purpose successfully in these actions?

Will you deny efficiency or lend permission to flow or disaster?

The state of how you decide to put your equipment and team into motion is a direct relationship to value.

This value has associated risks. We do enjoy labeling them and issuing codes and associated numbers. To reduce these risks, training, conversation and corrections are required, if not demanded.

How is this liability enforced;
by accident review?
by annual inspections?

Changing phases of implementation is a determination of your mindset, how you think, what you know or what you do not know, what you incorporate and what you reject.

Then the resulting behaviors engage arrive. Are they fortuitous or a train wreck? And were you the person who was driving that train?

How far have you worked on developing or accepting your intuition? What is your knowledge level on physical attributes? How much have you studied regarding atmospheric pressures and their resulting influences? What do you know regarding the flux of water and the qualities of speed?

The most important question is your equipment. As I have observed in training hundreds of agencies, the relationship of gear and safety has not always been thorough enough. It’s usually good enough to get by until a breakdown occurs, and they always do.

Rescue Water Craft aka power craft require a tremendous amount of select attention with an hourly schedule that correlates to the ‘book’. AKA the owner’s/shop manuals.

96% of my clients do not even have the proper tools and supplies required to be reliant. It’s a failure and it continues due to associations, assigned program leaders and human entanglements. We need strong men and women to break this distracted cycle.
Will you be one of them to risk it?

It’s like a bad inheritance of damaged DNA that creates an incomplete process of optimal functions.
This will result into the collapse, it’s a signature of our community that is protected far more than it is rejected.
The failure to reach out to persons who are subject matter experts, rather than self-appointed gurus who don’t have 100 oil changes under their gloves, is a telling point of failure. It’s a distraction of time, endurance and utility.

Be sure you don’t frame out your road map to end up in a dead end with the water rising and the equipment has stopped running.

Get into the books.

Remember, you are on your own, act like it. Think about that for a while.

Ask me how I know?

_________________________________

Posted: January 1, 2022

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2022 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

THE TIME IS NOW

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EXPANSION

Your skills are reflections of your goals.

These are the values of your time that you invested in your functional actions. You cannot pretend that you are doing this. Why?

Nature will teach you where you lack. And it will be swift and probably painful.

You can expand your functions because you study, you put into practice your learning, you put effort into this because it’s a realistic goal.

But you need to adjust your goals with your reality. And with reality itself. Or you will be a victim.

The challenge is to be functional in the goal because the demand of your skill and service will put your life in the lineup of death.

You can succeed if you map out your strategy. How do you do this?

Research.

Map out what is needed. Don’t copy bad imitators, they can pretend, but in reality they may be dragging you down into an abyss that makes you useless and wastes your time.

Question and evaluate. Repeat this until your skill level matches success. If you put your learning goal in a low level ‘get by’ attitude, you will achieve that rapidly. It’s a really tough place to put yourself. Don’t do it. There are painful implications that come with that choice.

Learn to ask appropriate questions. Ones that have value and future potential.

Take good care of yourself.

This is the way of the safety warrior.

_________________________________

Posted: December 17, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

Right Risk

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It all lines up with your selection.

You want to choose the lesser of the risk that you deduct from your learning and experience.

If your intuitive is speaking to you ‘not a good idea’, and you start to question yourself, perhaps that inner red flag is warning you that you have not developed the skills or the resilience to take on the mountain in from of you that is moving, fluid and steady on its course.

Are you steady to stand up to it even with fear?

You may have to move forward into that and prevail against your internal encouragement to stand down and you will have to live with your choice(s).

If you stand down, you may not have the brave moment to transcend the learning that comes from experience.
It is called a ‘rite of passage’. The safety culture will rest on standards, rules and regulations, sometimes nature is not on that team, doesn’t play by those rules and has its own game. The defensive position is a strong argument, and the offensive sometimes is the creative stroke.

Regardless, the best path forward is the spiritual internal conscious making peace with the reality of risk, which is the real world. The unfolding tragedy you are about to engage by volition.

Choose Well.

_________________________________

Posted: December 17, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

K38

SAFETY BEGINS HERE

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We have so much to do all the time

Perception of Safety Reality

Safety means danger, and that means rules are in place to manage the human component to lend towards reduction of human errors.
These errors have a long list of potential mishaps looming if any pattern in the reasonable behaviors is ignored, and how often they are until a cumulative pattern emerges.

The common visual reference is ‘one link in a length of chain’, these links need to be dependent upon one another for strength, or not.

If one team member has a question and is unsure of the next stage, step, pattern or behavior, listen to them. They may become the safety link with their inquiry. Even if your ego is pricked; listen.

It’s time to slow things down for the team at the point of identifiable error and review the entire group and possibly equipment status to determine the validity of an appropriate and supporting answer if none were forthcoming.

This is a good position to review the mission and ethics of the team participants.

Selection is the determination of actions. Whatever we choose, we have to live with it, defend it and define it.

If we are teaching, we are responsible for the manner in which the information is shared and our role is to encourage the recipient to continue to work towards retention of the knowledge and its patterns.

Stubborn beliefs and strong opinions regarding the right and wrong way to do this and that, can be a big contrast from.

Each accident or near miss is a new opportunity to grow a stronger and safer program.
Good to go?

_________________________________

Posted: December 4, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

The Value of Personal Protective Equipment – PPE

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We have so much to do all the time

The rescue ‘fashion’ side of our work is the protection of products we surround ourselves to work in our host environments.

There is a lot of junk produced worldwide that is marginal to ‘get by’ with being used, mainly from reference, reviews or industry networking. Then there are high end products that make things a bit easier, but let’s face it, ‘aquatic and product’ is like a tea bag; the more you dip the bag each use its strength wanes until it’s not recognizable.

These products all end up with similar lifespans. Water immersion requires more time in maintenance and operability, especially in high mineral content or acidic environments or constant UV exposure.

Sometimes it is the lack of discipline of inspecting, cleaning, drying and recording PPE use and care results.

Viewing hundreds of department programs, we can get by until something goes wrong or breaks. In a mishap PPE will be collected for review during an investigation as will the maintenance records of all equipment and training.

There are 5 problems that are often in the way or program PPE continual success;

1. Time - set up, review, remove for repair or replacement
2. Money – purchasing, maintenance/replacement
3. Effective Maintenance – inspections - care
4. Training for PPE
5. Selection Process & Management of Team Participants and Responsibilities

These five items are dependent upon one another. This is truly the toughest part about compliance with standards, rules and regulations. If every item was lined up with all its clauses and policy requirements, we may never make it to the water in time to be effective. This is truly a balancing act or team management and personal responsibility.

The problem with marginal training is few people are able to identify this prior to a mishap, but its easy to investigate post-accident and determine the wrongs that pre-existed. Are we reactive or proactive in our program management?

The selection process of team members is critical whether volunteer or paid employees. There is physical, weight and mobility risks in dynamic conditions that must be honestly accounted for by participants. Can you touch your toes? How is your cardio?

General weight, overweight or obesity risk factors in dynamic conditions for the operation?
What can you do?

Research your applicable standards. How do they apply to your PPE? Record them and present in team meetings. Determine your course of action for individual records, maintenance and retirement. Read the PPE warning labels, use and care instructions.

What are the annual hours of use applied to each product? Note the in-service anniversary date vs. callouts and training.

Have you determined replacement budget, shipping timelines for broken or irreparable PPE? Do you have backup PPE for immediate replacement or will your team experience down time?

Determine an adequate annual budget with the proper sizing, fit and maintenance needs.

If your specified program cannot afford to maintain the PPE which is for the protection and support of team members, perhaps the program needs to be reviewed and determination made if the agency can afford to manage a program effectively. An option is to close the program down, or halt it temporarily to address corrections; before an investigation post-accident reveals the limits of the program.

_________________________________

Posted: November 24, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

THE ANSWER TO FIELD SUCCESS IS HERE

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Or we get out of the way....

EFFECTIVE REALITY TRAINING FOR RESCUE WATER CRAFT TEAMS

To be effective the selection process of a Rescue Water Craft program is designed for success. If its not it will fail on every action in the field. You will notice the videos presented as clues. They will crop the recovery and they will block out the ending which tells the story of mishaps.

In selecting the requisite and competent personalities needed, they will need to possess the character of an individual whom can endure hardship and continue onward without regard to emotion or bias. This takes some refinement.

Trainees ‘must and should’ be placed under pressure enough to simulate the unknown future response. These calls will never be duplicated in training, they will be placed in a controlled environment, slowly and surely to enable the attendees to grasp one step at a time the reality.

These attendees or candidates will have to wrestle in their mind the values and relationships of the following:
1. The team limitations
2. Equipment being used
3. Environmental and Atmospheric conditions
4. Physical and mental fitness
5. The unknown situation, the most difficult survivor and multiple victims.

It requires to shock a person in and during training on levels in behavioral forward advancements as independent individuals working on a team with multi tasking functions. And under extreme duress. This is a rescue in harms way, otherwise it’s a simple assist.

People will crack in effective training, they will fail. They have the opportunity in short windows to make corrections. If they do not possess the proper fortitude, or reasoning, they must be removed. There should only be victims responding to, not bringing to the scene.

Mindset is the relationship of the Body and its bio mechanic, and its related to the causations on demand.
If we as educators do not prepare and carefully execute purposeful training, and audit the candidates honestly and ethically, we all sink.

Candidates should consider it a privilege to be on a team. They should consider their qualification a privilege based off their merits. They should honor their training and instructors. This is how we create an effective network of qualified and competent professionals.

Or not.

Do not be afraid to fail. Be afraid when you refuse to succeed. If you are not tested under the most severe conditions, methods and standards, you have not been trained properly. You will not be able to aid any person in distress. You will be distracted by a false sense of security. Your failed rescue will shock you. That is not the way to learn.

This work is a calling, it is not a paycheck or a pension. Its in your soul, placed in you at the moment of your creation, it upwells like a spring coming to the surface and flows freely outward. You know who you are, not what you want to be. Nobody can pretend with this.

The uniform does not make you that person, it reminds you of a sacred trust. There are not many servants, there are many pretenders.

Here is what you can do:
Train every day.
Train your mind every day.
Be ready for the call.
_________________________________

Posted: August 9, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

COMMITMENT

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Dedication is a decision of a commitment. A decision about how operations are interpreted. How you act and those consequences you employ with your decision.

Your training needs to be worthwhile, but it must be part of what you are doing and knowing what you are doing does not create harm.

We are a team, for good or worse. I prefer to choose the good, but it doesn’t take much for things to go wrong. It is in the preparation or it is not. Please do not wait to learn when you can prevent your problems from taking root.

Remember, you are not alone. What I do reflects positively on our community, choose the same, you can define that right now.

Because one is none. We do nothing alone, we may hope we can take credit for the thousands of people who sacrificed for our success. When you look at your shadow, take a moment to look at the quality of your spirit.

Then realize for everything indistinguishable you are not alone.

Posted: April 29, 2021

Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers and Rescue Water Craft operators, working hard and dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care.

__________

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
“Reproduced from K38’s website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post”

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

We Lead or We Follow

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Or we get out of the way....

WHAT IF YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOUR SUPERVISOR or INSTRUCTOR?

Can you educate them?
Can you make suggestions for them?
Can you supply data to them?
Will the EGO BLOCK stop progress?

Yes, it’s detrimental to society, the taxpayer, the team and the department.

These people who are bad leaders need to go away. They cannot lead. And most likely they will not go away until an incident comes under upper management scrutiny, or an investigation or third party audit.

That is if the auditor has courage to say what needs to be said. Not just checking the boxes down a list.

Now lets take a look at ourselves. We don't want to cast the first stone till we have courage about ourselves.

Not to success but failure. How do we fail and how do we hold ourselves accountable for our actions? Do we wait for somebody
else to carry our burden for us while we step gingerly ahead? Honestly, that's not right, but it sure is difficult to master this.

We possess our own unique roadblocks, our shortcomings and defaults. Its hard to turn them around. Its harder to understand where they came from, the genesis and how deeply embedded they are within our mind. Can we change? Or do we expect others to change for us so we can say we did something?

Protect yourself in all ways with a bad leader. They will not encourage your learn but to never learn. Make sure you are not a bad follower or a worse leader, always look back at yourself to wrestle the matter true.

Bad leaders and followers hang together as a protective cover. They will not share with you knowledge so you can meet them on a level playing field. They will not encourage you to evaluate and audit your success. They want you not to progress.

But you need to know that you are not that person first.
And that what you do is not for yourself but for others.
You must learn the way of a servant.
And smote your ego into a place of submission, or you will become a tyrant.

Consider an option. Why not change direction and head towards the unique 5% of personalities who serve without regard for recompense, not looking for a photo opportunity or to pad the paywall.

Try it, you may aspire to something that is not bitter, but better.

______________________

Posted: April 8, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

Mandatory Engine Cut-Off Switch Use

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United States Coast Guard Introduces new Law for Engine Cut-Off Switch Usage

Coast Guard Announces New Law Requiring Use of Engine Cut-off Switches
Mar 10th, 2021 ·

WASHINGTON – Operators of recreational vessels less than 26 feet in length will be required to use an engine cut-off switch (ECOS) and associated ECOS link (ECOSL) as of April 1, 2021, as the U.S. Coast Guard implements a law passed by Congress.

The ECOS and ECOSL prevent runaway vessels and the threats they pose. The ECOSL attaches the vessel operator to a switch that shuts off the engine if the operator is displaced from the helm. The ECOSL is usually a lanyard-style cord that attaches to an ECOS either in close proximity to the helm or on the outboard motor itself if the vessel is operated by a tiller.

When enough tension is applied, the ECOSL disengages from the ECOS and the motor is automatically shut down. Wireless ECOS have recently been developed and are also approved for use. These devices use an electronic “fob” that is carried by the operator and senses when it is submerged in water, activating the ECOS and turning the engine off. Wireless devices are available on the aftermarket and are beginning to become available as manufacturer-installed options.

Each year the Coast Guard receives reports of recreational vessel operators who fall or are suddenly and unexpectedly thrown out of their boat. These events have led to injuries and deaths. During these incidents the boat continues to operate with no one in control of the vessel, leaving the operator stranded in the water as the boat continues on course, or the boat begins to circle the person in the water eventually striking them, often with the propeller. These dangerous runaway vessel situations put the ejected operator, other users of the waterway, and marine law enforcement officers and other first responders in serious danger.

Section 503 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 required manufacturers of covered recreational boats (less than 26 feet in length, with an engine capable of 115 lbs. of static thrust) to equip the vessel with an ECOS installed as of December 2019.

Owners of recreational vessels produced after December 2019 are required to maintain the ECOS on their vessel in a serviceable condition. It is recommended that recreational vessel owners regularly check their existing ECOS system to ensure it works, following manufacturer’s instructions.

Section 8316 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 requires individuals operating covered recreational vessels (less than 26 feet in length, with an engine capable of 115 lbs. of static thrust; 3 HP or more) to use ECOS “links.” Using the ECOSL is required only when the primary helm is not within an enclosed cabin, and when the boat is operating on plane or above displacement speed. Common situations where ECOSL use would not be required include docking/trailering, trolling and operating in no-wake zones.

The Coast Guard believes that the overwhelming majority of recreational vessels produced for decades have had an ECOS installed, so this new use requirement simply obligates recreational vessel operators to use critical safety equipment already present on their boat.

Seven states currently have ECOS use laws for traditional recreational vessels, and 44 states have ECOS use laws for personal watercraft (PWC).

Boaters are encouraged to check the U.S. Coast Guard website for additional information on this new use requirement and other safety regulations and recommendations.

USCG Announcement

_________________________

Posted: March 23, 2021

Come train with K38 and discover what your community is doing to modernize standards, safety and reduce liability!
Copyright © 2021 K38 All rights reserved.

All materials on the Companies websites are the property of K38 and may not be copied, reproduced, sold, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright holder. Liberal use of K38 fact sheets and news releases is allowable with attribution.

To Cite the K38 Website for Reference: Please use the following:
"Reproduced from K38's website, © K38 (year), title and date of the post"

K38 does not grant permission for its content to be displayed on other Web sites, training manuals, unsolicited programs, media, training materials or standards development without expressed written permission.

Caution: Visit page (site) terms and conditions. Please take a qualified Rescue Water Craft training course and maintain proper records and respect all the PWC, RWC, PPE, and OEM manufacturer warning labels and cautions and country of origin regulations. The opinions and information in this post is subject to change as industry alerts, methods or notices are administered through laws, rules, cautions, regulations, or industry standards and will not be reflected in the original post date. Use at your own discretion, risk and caution.

K38 Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education, jobsite safety and standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers, Public Safety Agencies, Military and Rescue Water Craft operators. Dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care and competency

Katie and Mike Pierson Burn Recovery Support Request

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Surviving Fire Injuries

Katie Pierson and her husband Mike need our help financially as well as our spiritual support. They are in the fight of their lives suffering a catastrophic explosion and horrific burns. I got the call today from Mel, we both had dejavu moments over the weekend about Katie.

Katie worked for Rescue 3 International for many years and cares deeply about doing the right thing. She was a gauntlet of right on behalf of RQ3 instructors and I have deep respect for her and the company. She was recently working for CALFire/LSI and her husband has a Motoshop, working hard on building his business.

Katie, Mel and Hiroshi-san at the WaterRescueCon

If you can take a few minutes of your time and say a heartfelt prayer on their behalf I believe your energy and care is part of the goodness we create and this is needed. I cannot discover the expression of what to say or how to present it because its too expansive a tragedy. Please help them with your strongest thoughts of goodwill. Bless you for your considerations.

Please pray for Katie Pierson

Praying for all good things to happen for them on this tremendous survival fight they are in. Please keep their daughter in your prayers. I thank you, please hold them close in all thoughts, as I am believer in our connectedness.

Please donate to their burn fund

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Posted: February 25, 2021

Content Creator of Rescue Water Craft and Personal Water Craft boating international education standards: Shawn is the world’s foremost authority and leading subject matter expert. She cares most about her community and the culture surrounding the safety of event service providers and Rescue Water Craft operators, working hard and dedicated towards protecting their reputation, distributing safety information and continuing to train these amazing individuals to the highest standards of care.

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