Boating (DLRG)
The German Life Saving Society e. V. (DLRG) trains interested members to become qualified specialists in many areas. The boat beings is mainly for the water rescue service and civil protection is important.
Training in boating is a very extensive area that covers all aspects of boat use in the DLRG. The training takes place in theory and practice and provides for various specializations depending on the area of interest.
The training begins with the specialist training in the water rescue service . Here, for example, in the training modules "Revierkunde", precise knowledge of the operational area is conveyed - special danger areas, bank properties, flow conditions at different water levels, landing possibilities, etc. In the module "Seamanship", the use of boats is primarily discussed and knowledge about the basic handling of the boat is conveyed , among other things, the "clearing up" of the boats for the operational area, the use of the nautical knots and also the maintenance of the watercraft.
After these first steps in the training in boating, the training to become a boat operator can begin at the age of 18 and completed specialist training in water rescue service . As a rule, the first driving lessons have already been completed by this time, so that the prospective boat driver can be prepared for the additional training to take on responsibility on a motor lifeboat . The DLRG trains its boat drivers in its own courses. Two driving licenses are offered, which qualify the boat driver for different areas of activity: The boat license A for inland waters and the boat license B for sea waterways. A DLRG boating license only entitles you to drive a DLRG motor rescue boat, it does not include sports boats. However, due to the extensive and officially recognized training, the driver's license A can be converted to the corresponding sport boat driver's license . The same has been true since March 2015 for Area B (sea waterways).
A crew on a motor lifeboat consists of at least one boat operator and one lifeguard , whose main tasks in the event of an emergency are to secure events, provide technical assistance and rescue people from drowning. Boat crews can also be requested to rescue property or drowned people. Aid during floods is increasingly playing a role, which requires special boat shapes. Close cooperation with rescue or rescue divers, fire brigade or police forces is not uncommon.
Cooperation on board plays a major role: Only when everything works smoothly on board - setting up the boat, laying it down, preparing for use while driving to the scene of the accident, cooperation in providing assistance, tidying up after the operation - and when everyone has returned from the operation in good health, the seamanship worked well.
An experienced boat driver can also participate in the water rescue train for civil protection with additional training . Evacuating floodplain areas and taking care of the people are then among his core tasks. Often special dangers such as strong currents, underwater obstacles or dangerous flotsam have to be correctly assessed.
Longstanding and experienced boaters can qualify as instructors and examiners in boating at the DLRG and then work in training. You are entitled to teach how to handle the boat and the associated material and then to examine it.