Essentials of River Rescue

A one day A.C.A. Workshop

Course Overview

This workshop teaches

• recognition and avoidance of common river hazards,
• execution of self-rescue techniques,
• and simple rescues of paddlers in distress.

Emphasis is placed both

• on personal safety
• and on simple, commonly used skills.

Fundamental techniques for dealing with hazards that carrry greater risks for both victim and rescuer also are taught, such as

• strainers,
• entrapments,
• and pins.

Course Objectives

• Promote proactive prevention of river accidents and injuries
• Develop and practice key self-rescue skills
• Identify and avoid river hazards by understanding hydrology, hazards, and river features.
• Focus on fast, low-risk strategies for early management of river accidents
• Practice method for recovering swimmers, and loose boats and equipment.

Participant Qualifications

• All Paddle craft are welcome
• To fully participate, students should be capable of ferrying and making eddy turns and peel outs in class II whitewater.
• However, all boaters, and non-boaters with an interest in swiftwater rescue (e.g. professional rescuers), will benefit from the class.
• Participants should be:
  • in good health
  • and overall fitness
  • possess solid swimming ability,
  • and be comfortable swimming in moving current during river drills.
• Participants should
  • dress appropriately for weather and temperature
  • and expect to be in the water for extended periods of time.

Minimum personal equipment for class

• PFD designed for whitewater use
• whitewater helmet
• protective clothing suitable for extended swiming in cold water
• protective footweat
• boat
• paddle
• whistle
• and throw rope

Course Duration One Day (7-9 hours).

Location A chute of water with deep, clean wave action, well-defined eddy lines and no immediate hazards or risks below. The site may include rapids up to class II in difficulty, although less difficult rapids are preferred. Protected space is needed for on-land work, with adequate shelter for inclement weather.

Successive Classes: Swiftwater Rescue, Advanced Swiftwater Rescue.

1. Introduction (15 mininutes)

• Welcome
• Introduction and expectations.
• Class Overview
• Waivers and medical forms
• Safety plan, "challenge by choice" approach
• Site logistics(bathrooms, food and drink policies, no controlled substances...)
• ACA overview

2. Rescue Philosophy (30 mininutes)

• Accident avoidance and proactive rescue
  • Accident timeline
  • Prevention and "what if...? strategy
  • Prior planning for accident management
• Priorities
  • Me, my group, bystanders, the victim
  • Simple and fast to comples and slow
• Liability and Ethical issues
• Trip Organization
  • lead and sweep
  • know the group, the river and the weather
  • plan the trip and communicate the plan

3. Scene Management (15 mininutes)

• Locate, Access and assess, Stabilize, and Transort
• Prioritizing the rescue
• Most rescues are performed quickly, without a formal structure
• Larger groups and longer rescues often need structure
• Incident Command structure
  • Leader
  • Safety
  • Rescuer
• Complete the rescue without compounding the situation
• Communication (AW signals)
  • Hand and whistle signals
  • Cell phone or radio if appropriate

4. Medical Issues (5 mininutes)

• Not a first aid class; perform medical care to your level of training
• Don't make the situation worse
• Obtain more training; calling 911 is rarely an effective option
• Rescuers should be familiar with common medical problems including
  • hypothermia
  • drowning
  • cuts and scrapes
  • and dislocationss/broken bones
• CPR and Wilderness First Aid skills are essential for rescuers

5. Equipment (40 mininutes)

Protection from rocks and water

shoes, helmet, PFD

Thermal protection

Wet suit vs dry suit

Wool vs synthetics

avoid cotton in cold or wet conditions

Personal Rescue Gear

boat, paddle

whistle, throw rope

knife, saw

first aid kit, rescue PFD

Group Rescue Gear

survival kit, haul rope, communications,...

specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather

Survial equipment

food, water

extra clothing, shelter

fire making supplies

specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather

6. Throw Ropes (45 mininutes)

• Selection based on rope material, diameter, and length
• Care of the rescue rope.
  • avoid sun exposure
  • keep clean
  • avoid stepping o the line
  • avoid sharp edges
• Throwing and recovery zones.
• Rope Safety
• types of throws
  • over-arm
  • underarm
  • side-arm
• factors impacting an accurate throw
  • rope length and diameter
  • brush and trees
  • cold
  • practice
• Receiving the rope
• Belay techniques
  • hip belay
  • sitting
  • buddy
  • synamic
  • line on downstream side
• coiling and rethrowing
• stuffing techniques
• vector pull to assist landing
• multiple swimmers
• figure 8 knot and figure 8 on a bight.

7. Water Hazards and Hydrology (20 mininutes)

• rivers are powerful, predictable and persistent
• subjective vs. objective hazards
  • poor judgement can be fatal
  • river hazards don't care if you don't recognize them
  • flooding dramatically increases risk
• water reading (upstream and downstream Vs)
• eddies and eddy lines
• waves
• hydraulics
• strainers
• horizon lines
• undercut rocks, broaching rocks
• foot entrapment risks

8. Swimming (60 mininutes)

• Essential self rescue tool
• Safe eddy rule, don't try to stand in swift current
• defensive and aggresssive swimming
• defensive to aggressive transitions
• crossing eddy lines
• ferry techniques
• swiftwater entries
• swimming with gear
• handling strainers, holes, and drops (discussion)

9. Wading (45 mininutes)

• Safe eddy rule
• Swim instead of fighting for marginal footing
• water depth, water speed, bottom conditions affect performance
• maintain balance
• "Look with your toes"
• one person with paddle/prop
• two person
• wedge

10. Boat Based rescue (90 mininutes)

• Often fastest and easiest technique for boaters, but potentially high risk
• many uses for boats
  • ferries for people and equipment
  • tool to sprint for help
• Paddle recovery
  • throw
  • two paddles in hand
  • put in your boat
• boat recovery
  • bulldozer or shove
  • set a ferry angle
• self rescue
  • hold boat and paddle in one hand when swimming with gear
  • set a ferry angle
  • boat stays downstream of victim
• swimmer rescues and assists
  • assisting victims back into boats
  • strengths and limitations of canoes, kayaks, and rafts
  • stern and bow tows

11. Pins (20 mininutes)

• Avoid getting pinned or entrapped by recognizing hazards
• Pin mechanics
  • balance between gravity, friction and force of water
• Types of pins
  • vertical
  • center broach
  • end to end
  • pinch pin
• release by unbalancing forces
• tag line on boat for recovery after release
  • consider what happens when the boat releases
• stabilization line to support trapped victim
• self rescue
  • avoidance
  • high side to avoid invertig
  • wiggle off the rock
  • bail out
• if all participants are safe, waiting for low water may be a viable option

12. Entrapment (30 mininutes)

• most commonly foot entrapments, strainers, or trapped in a boat
• keep victim heads up with stabilization line
• snag line to release foot entrapments
• high risk;hands-on rescue places rescuers near the entrapping object

13. Scenarios (60 mininutes)

• managing common river problems, including multiple swimmers and loose gear
• debriefing to reinforce rescue priorities

14. Closing (10 mininutes)

• opportunities for additional training
• recommend first aid training
• continue to practice skills-this is just the beginning!
• avoiding incidents is far better than reacting to them

Times shown are estimated total teaching times for each part. Instructors and students should expect actual times to vary depending on the site, weather, number of sessions over which a class is spread, number of switches between on-water and off water in any given session , and the students' interest, abilities and experience.

Resources

Whitewater Rescue Manual

Charles Walbridge and Wayne Sundmacher, 1995

Swiftwater Rescue

Slim Ray, 1997

River Rescue

Les Bechdel and Slim Ray, 1989

Heads Up

Video

Whitewater Self Defense

Video by Performance Video, 1998

River Safety Reports

ACA, Walbridge various years