Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea

Airline pilots use checklists to ensure they get everyone to their destination safely. Boaters can learn a thing or two from this practice.

I love EPIRBs. When asked what one thing I would take with me offshore, I always answer: an EPIRB.

In his latest Ask Mario video, Mario Vittone answers Craig Warner's question: " When would you let one of your crew go into the water to assist someone who is unable to help themselves?"

In this Ask Mario video, Mario Vittone answers Len Thibodeaux's question: Does Mario prefer EPIRBs or Satellite Tracking Devices?

For the past year, Mario Vittone has been writing the Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog for Soundingsonline.com. Now he is undertaking a new venture with Soundings, called Ask Mario, where readers can get answers to their boating safety questions. In this video, Mario answers the question: How often should thru hull fittings be replaced? WATCH

When I was in the U.S. Coast Guard, I couldn’t say this; but I believe the phrase “Always wear your life jacket” is terrible advice.

For the past year, former US Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone has been teaching Soundings readers how to be safer on the water through his “Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea” blog. He will continue to educate us, but first, he wants to hear from you. READ MORE.

When people fall overboard, more often than not it’s at the marina when boarding or stepping off the boat.

Last week in Lifelines, Mario Vittone dispelled a massive myth in his post Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning, which went viral and will save lives. This week, Vittone tackles the fallacy that untrained, but otherwise competent swimmers, can't make an attempt to save someone who's drowning and tells us how to (safely) do it.

Mention drowning and we all tend to envision a person in the water waving his hands, splashing and screaming for help. That’s not even remotely close to what a drowning person looks like, writes Mario Vittone in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

At a meeting with 250 boaters last year, I asked for a show of hands: “How many of you have registered your DSC radio and have an MMSI number?

You don’t have to be able to deadlift 400 pounds, but you do need to be able to keep your cool under pressure if you want to become a Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer, writes Mario Vittone in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

The Coast Guard uses a computer model — among other tools — to aid in the determination of whether it should continue searching for someone. Mario Vittone discusses the factors taken into account when calling off a search in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea.

No one likes to change when it comes to new rules or regulations that restrict free will. Professionals should decide for themselves what is right or wrong, based on their knowledge and experience, and apply it to operate their vessel safely and effectively. The only problem is just how often that model fails. Mario Vittone explains why experience is a rotten teacher in this week's installment of Lifelines: Safety And Rescue at Sea.

Check the Coast Guard’s annual boating statistics, and you’d think it never happens.

At sea during an emergency is the absolute worst time to discover what your life raft is or isn’t packed with, or to figure out how to get in and out of it, writes Mario Vittone in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

After working an incident where an angler and his two sons lost their lives, Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Mario Vittone changed his focus to helping boaters prepare for the worst. He writes about the case, and his upcoming Boaters University video series, in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

How do you find out if the captain on your next fishing charter or head boat excursion is a capable one? Mario Vittone writes about the three questions he asks, when in doubt, in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

Mario Vittone takes a 41-degree dip in the Delaware River in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog. Watch his video to learn a simple cold-water immersion strategy that could save your life.

In 2013, I retired as a maritime accident investigator for the Coast Guard. Prior to that, I was a helicopter rescue swimmer, and before that I worked aboard a patrol boat.