A small item in the June 1955 edition of the USN magazine "ALL HANDS" mentioned that a new rescue basket has been developed for the Coast Guard. Captain Frank Erickson developed the basket for picking up survivors. It mentioned that it should eliminate the requirement of sending down a crewman to attach a sling to survivors.
Originally posted by MastersMate: A small item in the June 1955 edition of the USN magazine "ALL HANDS" mentioned that a new rescue basket has been developed for the Coast Guard. Captain Frank Erickson developed the basket for picking up survivors. It mentioned that it should eliminate the requirement of sending down a crewman to attach a sling to survivors.
AD2/3 Sergi Sikorsky (ya, that one) has a pic of himself being hoisted by his father in a prototype device. I believe he said they were doing hoist testing of the helo and the device. If you ever get a chance to see his presentation and slide show, it's a good one.
i'm not sure about the navy rescue swimmer program, but i believe it was a congressional mandate that called for the creation of the coast guard helo rescue swimmer program.
legend has it the greek god poseidon had a bastard son who also tamed the raging oceans each time he entered the waters to help seagoing travelers in danger. we just added the flightsuits and a little bit of attitude to the story...
Originally posted by chief74Ret: Who invented the rescue swimmer????
M/V Prinsendam A Fire Gulf of Alaska: SAR Case Study, Commander 17th Coast Guard District, 3 February 1981. Page 1, paragraph 2b. “The training and expertise of the Air Force pararescuemen was responsible for the survival of passengers in the last lifeboat. It is notable that we were forces to rely on another agency to provide these personnel. I recommend we develop a similar, highly-trained, well-equipped rescue elite. (signature block is R. J. Knapp).
(Executive Summary comments) VIII. a. "The expertise of the Air Force pararescuemen was responsible for the survival of passengers in the last lifeboat. Often, SAR units have cases that require extensive medical training and survival skills. While the EMT program is attempting to provide the required medical skills, little attention is given to air/boat crewmen in skills often needed –such as swimming, diving, etc. When rank ordered, the first and fourth goals of the SAR OPP for 1980-1985 are to improve professionalism and on-scene effectiveness. A well-trained, well-equipped cadre of rescue specialists is needed to help attain this goal."
