Ok guys, this thought experiment is from a real world situation of which I got to see the aftermath. I am looking for people to weigh in and help think of solutions.

You are on a ski boat in the middle of a lake, and help is not very close. There are two people swimming (a grown man and his young son, lets say the kid is 8 and the grown man is a large 40-50 year old) next to a boat that is at a distance close enough for you to see. You see another boater strike the swimming man while driving and then take off. The man who was swimming in the water is not moving after being hit by the passing boat.

What is the best way to get the man out of the water and onto your boat, so that you can start to administer first aid? For this example lets say that the struck swimmer has deep lacerations in his leg.

I ask this, because while I was going through a debrief with my family, we though through how hard it would be for my mother to lift my father out of the water if he was struck and it was just the two of them.

Also an important question I would like people to weigh in on: Is it better to stay put once you get the man into your boat, or is it better to drive away and go try to get help once you get the man out of the water?

Everyone please weigh in!

How many people do you have on your boat or in the general vicinity? We would play this “what if “ game every week when a new load of passengers would come on board. Potentially 36 new wild cards every week.

So originally I was thinking of this as 1 person in your boat. To make this a worse case scenario, lets assume it is a small woman who would struggle to lift the man out of the water and into the boat. My original idea was to use a rope (should have on the boat) and tie it around his body underneath is arms and try to use the cleat or a wake tower (if you have one) to help get leverage to aid in pulling the man out. This seems like a solution that could do more damage than good though, so I am wondering if anybody has a better idea.

In this case, the immediate course of action that comes to mind is.... make sure he can keep his head above water to breathe, and then call for/go get help.
The woman (in this example) is unable to lift him into the boat. Trying to do so will either injure her, or cause further damage to the victim. You aren't superman, work within your limitations to provide the best possible outcome. If all she can do is jump in and throw a life vest on him (throw out a bumper/marker to mark the area?) and call/get help, then that's the course of action.