All Standard Operating Procedure mentioned above is to be complied with by the Operators/Crew members/Association/Agents and Guests. However, additional measures/precautions to be taken on certain activity specific watersports such as Snorkeling which are as follows:-
Snorkelling:-
Before entering the water:-
a) The Snorkeling Guide shall brief the guests on the importance of maintaining social distancing and operations of snorkelling.
b) The Guests should have complete personal snorkelling kit full face mask. Only such guests should be allowed to undergo the rides.
c) No Snorkeling equipments shall be hired, borrowed, lent or shared even among members of the same family.
d) Only 02 guests per Guide must be allowed to snorkel at a time.
e) All guests must compulsorily wear face masks and hand gloves until entering the water and upon leaving the water-body.
f) At no point should the snorkelling guide touch any guest's snorkelling equipments. All demonstrations must be given using own equipments.
While in water:-
a) Demonstrate snorkelling skills in thigh-level water, maintaining social distancing norms.
b) All guests must wear a life jacket before entering the water.
c) Use Lifebuoy with rope to tow the guests while snorkelling.
After leaving the water:-
a) The safety gears such as Life Jacket and Life-buoy used by the guests must be rinsed, dried and disinfected before the next use.
b) The snorkelling equipment used by the guide must be kept at possession at all times to avoid accidental usage by other guides.
The Guide must be diligent on this practice.
c) To ensure that the snorkel guide should mark all personal snorkeling kit with paint so that other persons may not use the same.
Emergency Response Procedure
As we all are aware of the fact that Watersports/water based activities have inherent risk factor involved, therefore as part of precautionary measures the following preparedness is to be kept ready by the owner/operator/crew:-
On board Emergency:-
As a matter of practice, the Operator or Crew shall not disobey physical distancing norms unless any life-threatening emergency situation emerges.
The Operator must call for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) from the boat, and with the victim, immediately rush to the shore.
Assess the condition of patient till the emergency medical service arrives for help. If possible, ask the family or friend of the patient to aid the patient as per qualified First Aider instructions.
When EMS arrives, brief the professional medical person about the condition and First Aid provided to the patient.
If the PPE kit is available at Watersports centre, the qualified First Aider must wear the same to perform First Aid till the time EMS arrives.
Over board Emergency:-
During Man Over-board situation, the boat operator and crew must follow the standard MOB procedure to rescue the victim.
All boats in operations must carry a boat embarkation ladder/scramble net and extra rope 14 mm and 15 meters length.
To rescue the conscious victim on-board, the life guard/crew must give correct instructions to climb the ladder and to get on-board. If the victim requires support, provide step-by-step instructions to the family members or friends of the victim to assist him/her.
If the victim is unconscious in water, use spinal board/ back board to mobilize the victim from water and recover him on-board.
Once the victim is on-board, qualified First Aider must do complete assessment of victim for response. If the victim does not respond, i.e. No breath or No Pulse, contact EMS immediately and rush the victim to the shore. If possible, commence the CPR procedure onboard. Else, administer the CPR procedure immediately after reaching the shore and securing the victim.
Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation: -
If the Victim is not responding, the qualified CPR aider must wear PPE kit and gloves before commencing of chest compression. Continue chest compression at the rate of 100 per minute.
Emergency breathing must be given only with AMBU bag, mouth to mouth resuscitation is strictly forbidden
Continue the procedure till the Emergency Medical Service arrives or the victim is handed over to a medical professional.