Emphasize the high risk nature of contact rescues

If you can quickly reach the victim, a live-bait rescue takes very little time to set-up.  Basically, set-up is connecting a line to a rescue vest, ensuring the belay person/s are ready, getting someone downstream quickly for safety, and away you go.  Simple and effective.  If the person is panicking, this can be a very dangerous rescue method.  A simple rope toss in that case is a far better solution.  Here is a decent article on the risks involved: Panicking Swimmer.

Live Bait

LiveBaitRescue vests open up a world of rescue capabilities.  The Live Bait rescue is a very direct way to physically grab a victim and stay in close contact.  Unfortunately, people are very unpredictable and often panic.  Communicate in a very calm manner to settle the person down.  If the victim is too much for you to handle, back off immediately.

A pre-set Live Bait rescue is great for safely grabbing an unconscious swimmer and bringing them quickly to shore.  A rescue vest is absolutely essential for this rescue method and should never be performed without one.  The live bait rescue involves connecting a rope to a rescuer's rescue vest, leaving lots of slack, timing the water entry so you can quickly ferry to the victim, and manually grabbing them.

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