Before beginning this blog I had several questions in mind, but now that feedback is coming in from the site, new questions are being suggested. A “question-of-the-week” feature might be appropriate soon, but let’s begin for now by reviewing the question that has been addressed to the USRowing Safety Committee for clarification:
“If a club has no written safety program and its coaches have no USRowing training, no CPR/First Aid, and no boating safety certifications, can the club rightfully tell parents of scholastic rowers that it adheres to USRowing’s Safety Standards?”
A copy of their response will be reprinted here when it is received.
In the meantime it’s worth reviewing the basis for the question. USRowing makes it perfectly clear that their “guidelines are meant to serve as an outline for your own program.” They are not standards that must be followed as pre-requisite for participation in USRowing events. But if a club assures its members that it adheres to, or follows, USRowing standards (or, more properly, guidelines), what does that mean?
The first guideline offered by USRowing is that “Each club should have a safety committee that will develop and annually review all the safety rules, protocols and procedures.” That seems clear; unless it’s ignored. If a club doesn’t have a safety committee, doesn’t review its protocols, and the coaches can’t don’t have the CPR/First Aid, Boating Safety Course qualifications on the Pre-Practice Safety Checklist, what does it mean? Is it OK if a coach has “proper clothing” and “a cell phone in case of emergency,” but doesn’t have CPR or First Aid, and hasn’t passed a swim test?
Shouldn’t we be paying more attention to qualifications that could make a difference between life and death in the event of an accident, and give them a high priority than other things that are good practice, but less critical?
Shouldn’t all coaches have basic life-saving skills before taking kids out on cold, often unprotected waters, and relying on cell phones in the event of an accident?
Row safer, row smarter, row on…
Marc