Swiftwater rescue, CPR, and First Aid.

[squeakyknee]

Just curious, I was having a conversation with my fellow Rescue Sqad members the other night about the subject.
I know that with the amount of people that kayak, the pecentage of people certified in swiftwater rescue, CPR, and first aid is pretty high.
What about our end of the boating world?
How many of us out there have this training and or have recertified in CPR?
Shawn

[adamin]

CPR and First Aid every year / every other year, respectively, and I've taken a Swiftwater rescue course from Charlie Walbridge a number of years ago.

Mind you, this is basically because I 1) think it's a good idea, and 2) Guide and safety-boat for a local rafting outfit sometimes...to keep my NY State guides license I have to be current in First Aid and CPR anyway (plus a refined version of basic water safety), and the costs stay down to a very reasonable level by going through the outfitter.

On personal trips I probably dont' carry as much first aid wise as I should, and I've been meaning to come up with a better kit. Thanks for the reminder:)

[Larry Horne]

i'm ashamed to say i have no formal training whatsoever. it is going to happen this year though.

[JFD]

On August 12, 2007 WVU will be hosting a day of river rescue and medical training where you can get most of this stuff in one package. In the morning we will have 4 hrs of lectures and skills workshops covering most of the important medical and first aid skills that paddlers should know, and in the afternoon Charley Walbridge, Eric Nies, and Travis Cobb will be teaching a river rescue workshop. The topics to be covered are resuscitation of the drowning victim, shoulder reduction, hypothermia, waterborne illness, splinting and wound care, etc.
We're still finalizing all the details of this, but we're hoping to make it a good day of training for whitewater boaters. No certification offered, it's more important to just know these skills. This is all part of the Appalachian Wilderness Medicine Conference Aug 10-12, but we're offering a one-day registration on Sunday for boaters.
I'll post more about this when we get our website up and running.
jay

[squeakyknee]

i'm ashamed to say i have no formal training whatsoever. it is going to happen this year though.

I wouldn't be ashamed, I spent the 1st 15years paddlin without anything more than knowing CPR and basic firstaid from when I was a kid. It's only been the last few years of up'n the ante that I've felt I needed some better skills in that department.
Basic knowledge of rescue and 1st aid is good enough, not everyone is able to get formal training in these areas.
I will say that if you run hairy stuff, or even just Class III+ stuff regularly, it is good to have at least one person in your group that has some sort of training.
It prolly won't happen before this years armada, but perhaps I will talk to some people about putting together an informal workshop for upcoming events for interested parties.
Shawn

[Heidi]

I know that with the amount of people that kayak, the pecentage of people certified in swiftwater rescue, CPR, and first aid is pretty high.

My observation doesn't coincide with any group, kayakers or canoeist, having a high percentage of safety training. I boat with a mixture of both groups across the Northeast and on average the open boaters, many of them old school, tend to be better equipped than the kayakers and have had training of some sort. I actually find a disturbing lack of SWR training amongst all boaters.

I did a two-day SWR with Charlie Walbridge my first season of boating and repeated it two years later as an instructor candidate. My next round with Charlie, in this my fourth season, will again be as an instructor candidate with a greater responsibility in conducting the instruction. It depends on the individual, but three guys I know that Charlie has certified as instructor did three rounds of two-day SWR over the course of three years before certification. Certification can't be bought with Charlie, it has to be earned and proficiency demonstrated. Charlie has greatly expanded my safety insight and knowledge and the rivers have given me a lot of opportunity to apply what I've learned, but on top of that is a persistent thought that I need to practice more.

It's not so much I want to take on the big responsibility of conducting SWR training, it's more about honing my skills to a higher level. When you're in it as an instructor candidate, it takes it up a notch; learning attains another level when you have to teach what you've learned. Eventually I do hope to teach as my way of giving back to the river community, but bottom line is being the best resource I can be for myself and others. I'm doing a CPR refresher next week. Certified in Advanced First Aid years ago, some day I want to add a Wilderness First Aid course to my tool box.

Started using a pump last season, but have since upgraded to a two pump bilge system; I consider pumps to be safety equipment. I'm curious to see how fast it'll empty the boat. Testing it with Tennessee water in about a week.

I'm glad you posted this Shawn, I hope it nudges to action those who have been thinking they need to take a course. I work on those I boat with, who are not trained yet have been notching it up to class 4 along with me and I let 'em know, in a concerned friend way, I'm not comfortable with them not knowing SWR to the point of calling it irresponsible. It's a judgement call each time I boat to decide if my boating compadres are a strong group, strength implies skills and preparedness, which some gain through years of experience rather than formal instruction.

On any class of water, the expanded awareness that SWR training can/should provide is priceless, because things happen so fast on the river, five minutes is about the max time you have to get someone breathing again after that their odds of a good recovery is greatly diminished.

Safe boatin' ~Heidi

[ohioboater]

Not currently certified in first aid or CPR, but I know how to do it if needed. Will probably do a refresher at some point. Took a SWR class locally a few years back. Great info. I'll probably sit in on it again this coming year, since the physical skills go away if you don't use them.

I don't paddle hard enough water to really 'need' the rescue skills, but I do help teach beginners. So knowing how to hit a target with a rope, unpin a swamped boat and deal with typical paddling injuries is useful. Rescue skills I've actually used: undid a couple of heads up 2 point broaches, fished a few swimmers out with rope tosses, did 2 extractions of injured boaters by rigging up a trimaran with some of the prussik cord and biners I carry.

Did I need a formal class to learn that stuff? No, much of basic rescue is common sense once you understand the river environment. But for a weekend warrior like me, it would have taken a lot longer to learn all that stuff by osmosis...

[jnorto01]

Hey just checking in on this one. I have CPR/AED and basic first aid training and have been ACA certified as a swiftwater resue instructor by Charlie Walbridge (August 2005). I recomend the everyone take an advanced swiftwater rescue class. Even if you understand rescue techniques, practicing them in a controlled situation gives one confidence in the event that you need to use your skills for real. When is the last time you practiced with your throw bag? Unless you put in some practice time to keep tuned up, you are likely to miss your target (victim). It is surprising how many throw bag misses happen in an average SWR class. Add the tension of a real rescue event and your chances of getting it right are gonna be low if you have not worked on your throw bag technique. As stated in one of the other post, I do think that us open boats tend to carry more safety gear than yakkers probably because we have more room and what is a couple of extra pounds in an already heavy boat. In general I think C-boaters are safer in that it takes longer to develop the skill level to paddle harder water. A lot of yakkers are running calss IV in their first season with absolutely no clue about safety with a " I got a roll so everything is OK" mentality. Just my 2 cents worth. Jim

[squeakyknee]

Awsome! thanks for all the great replies and "friendly" nudges.
SYOTW!
Shawn

[madmike]

I just got certified as a WFR (wilderness first responder.) I hold Red Cross CPR (for the rest of the week) and red cross 1st aid. I train each year in swiftwater rescue, with the National Canoe Safety Patrol.
I carry a medium amount of rescue, and first aid supplies on most river trips. If you have an extra 10 days on your hands, you could check out the WFR thing.


http://www.riversafetypatrol.com/index.html