What It Takes To Be A Helicopter Rescue Swimmer

Soundings contributor Mario Vittone knows more about safety and rescue at sea than most because he is a former USCG rescue swimmer. This video shows Vittone rescuing a family of four nearly 400 miles off the U.S. East Coast. WATCH

By Soundings Editors

December 13, 2018

Soundings magazine is fortunate to have many talented contributors. Mario Vittone, the author of Soundings’ “Lifelines: Safety and Rescue at Sea” column, is one of them. Vittone is an authority on the topic of marine safety and rescue, because he is a former U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer who performed many rescues during his career.

In the January 2019 issue of Soundings, Vittone wrote about what it takes to become a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer. You can read The World’s Greatest Job: How Rescue Swimmers Are Made, but if you want to see what the job takes, we highly recommend that you watch the below helicopter rescue footage as Vittone is lowered into the Atlantic Ocean to save a family of four, including a four-month old baby.