Boating Community Comes Together to Keep You Safe

On April 15th and 16th, the Marco Island Boating Community formed a coalition and came together to launch the first of many free classes to come in first aid, AED, CPR and situational awareness. All classes held are open to the public at the learning center of the Marco Island Sail & Power Squadron Club (also known as America’s Boating Club) at the Chamber of Commerce Plaza and led by the Power Squadron’s Safety Officer, Capt. Geoff Fahringer.

With concern about increasing crime across the country, remaining safe in both public and private settings becomes even more important. The training touched on common sense precautions that we can take such as: Having a Plan, Analyzing your Environment, Identifying Threats, Trusting your Instincts, and How to Avoid Being a Target Victim - just a few of the proven and simple steps we can all take to stay safer (for example, what to do if you are in the Mall and there is an ‘active shooter’).

The instructor for the two sessions of Situational Awareness Training was Captain Geoff Fahringer. He is a 50-year career law enforcement officer who retired as a Supervisor with the Police Department of Syracuse, New York, before joining the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for twenty-nine years. His experience includes SWAT services, dive instructor for Collier County Sheriff, detective in vice/narcotics, major crimes, Criminal Intelligence, and organized crime departments. Other training experience includes First Aid, CPR and AED and an owner of a training company locally. Geoff is currently President of the Marco Island Board of Realtors and serves as the Safety Officer for America’s Boating Club and Marco Island Yacht Club.

We view this as a civic duty that members of the boating community of Marco Island emphasize gaining skills that we can save lives when minutes count. Members of  The Marco Island Power Squadron, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Marco Island Yacht Club, the Marco Island Cruise Club, and other boating enthusiasts such as the Kayaking Club come together to gain greater firsthand knowledge and skills in first aid and greater awareness and accountability on how to improve personal safety. CPR/AED training is hands-on with a dummy and a live AED.

What is learned in class can be equally applied to stabilize a guest who injures himself on one’s boat during a Sunday outing or a stranger who stops breathing and collapses in the parking lot outside the supermarket. Can you confidently take action?

Our organizations share a culture of camaraderie, boating, and focus on building safe boating and navigation skills. We believe many of our members likely have an interest in strengthening and refreshing their personal safety and first-aid skills. To this end, 20 students with similar interests can come together to learn and share boating experiences in a friendly environment while learning to stabilize injuries (bleeding, bone fractures, heart attacks, strokes, drowning, and more) and help a “mate” find comfort while waiting for outside help to arrive. These are all useful skills.

Different organizations have different training skill sets and teaching materials. Rather than reinventing the wheel on first aid and personal safety, it seems like we would all benefit by leveraging the excellent background and experience our Safety Officer has and is willing to share with Marco’s Boating Community and other members of the public who may be interested. This is a way the boating community coalition strengthens the Marco Community as a whole!

The 2024 May Safe Boating Month will be recognized by the Marco Island City Council on May 20th with a ‘proclamation’ for the “Wear-It Campaign.” When on the water, increase your personal safety by wearing a life jacket.

On May 21st at 6:00 PM and May 25th at 9:00 AM, Capt. Fahringer will offer the two-and-a-half-hour Tactical First-Aid CPR/AED class at the Marco Island Power Squadron Learning Center, 1114 North Collier Blvd., Second Floor, Marco Island. For free ticket reservations visit marcoboatingclub.org, use the QR code or call Deb Ricci at 303-261-5096.