Bringing missing loved ones back to families takes more than just technical skills. This certification focuses on legal, forensic, and compassionate considerations for body recovery from water.
CorePasss® Body Recovery from Water (BRWTR) certification provides essential certification for emergency responders to safely and respectfully manage the recovery of deceased persons from a range of water environments.
This quality assured certification covers critical topics including transitioning from rescue to recovery operations, legal considerations, disaster victim identification, incident management, decomposition factors, safety precautions, psychological impacts, family/media management, evidence collection, and specialised recovery techniques.
Candidates confirm their knowledge on how to implement an effective recovery management structure, utilise specialised equipment, and perform various body recovery methods from water. The certification emphasises the importance of professionalism, compassion, and humility when dealing with bereaved families. Upon completion, responders are better prepared to conduct body recovery operations from water safely, efficiently, and with sensitivity to all involved.
Syllabus
- Factors influencing transition from rescue to recovery mode
- Legal authorities and roles in body recovery operations
- Disaster Victim Identification process for mass fatality incidents
- Pre-planning for recovery operations
- Minimum training requirements for different river classes
- Recovery management team structure and roles
- Absolute extras of body recovery
- Decomposition factors and pathology considerations
- Infectious disease control and personal safety measures
- Psychological impacts and support for responders
- Management of family members and media
- Evidence collection and documentation for investigations
- Specialized equipment for swiftwater body recovery
- Body recovery techniques in swiftwater environments
Audience
The CorePass® Body Recovery from Water certification is ideal for anyone involved in water-based body recovery operations including:
- Water rescue personnel
- Incident managers
- Investigators
- Public safety divers
- Detectives
- Pathologists
- Medical examiners
- Coroners
- Family liaison officers
- Psychologists
- Agency Chaplins
Candidates must demonstrate skills consistently with approved references such as the international award winning Swiftwater Body Recovery manual 2nd Edition (Glassey).
For candidates seeking certification for related competencies, IPSQA offers a range of other certification products including:
- IPSQA Certificate in Public Safety (Emergency Vehicle Operator)
- IPSQA CorePass® Wildfire Awareness
- IPSQA CorePass® Public Safety Radio
- IPSQA CorePass® Confined Space Awareness
- IPSQA CorePass® Height Safety I/II
- IPSQA CorePass® INSARAG First Responder
- IPSQA CorePass® Community Emergency Response
- IPSQA CorePass® First Aid I-IV (Basic to Advanced)
- IPSQA CorePass® Workplace Fire Suppression I

Real-time QR code certificate verification on all IPSQA products
Further information
Contact us or your local Accredited Testing Centre for further information.