- published: 10 Jan 2013
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A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inflatable combination hulled vessels.
There are generally three types of boat, in-land (used on lakes and rivers), in-shore (used closer to shore) and off-shore (into deeper waters and further out to sea). A rescue lifeboat is a boat designed with specialised features for searching for, rescuing and saving the lives of people in peril at sea or in estuaries.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland rescue lifeboats are typically vessels manned by volunteers, intended for quick dispatch, launch and transit to reach a ship or individuals in trouble at sea. Off-shore boats are referred to as 'All-weather' and generally have a range of 150-250 nautical miles. Characteristics such as capability to withstand heavy weather, fuel capacity, navigation and communication devices carried, vary with size.
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or prevention of injury during an incident or dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search dogs, search and rescue horses, helicopters, the "jaws of life", and other hydraulic cutting and spreading tools used to extricate individuals from wrecked vehicles. Rescue operations are sometimes supported by special vehicles such as fire department's or EMS heavy rescue vehicle.
Ropes and special devices can reach and remove individuals and animals from difficult locations including:
Rescue operations require a high degree of training and are performed by rescue squads, either independent or part of larger organizations such as fire, police, military, first aid, or ambulance services. In the US, they are usually staffed by medically trained personnel as NFPA regulations require it.[citation needed]
In former centuries the word "rescue" had other meanings: for example, there is an old record of a countryman living where Wythenshawe is now, being prosecuted in a local law court for "making rescue" of a pig which had been seized as a distress for non-payment of money owed.[citation needed]