White water Safety Course

Motivations and Decisions

We delve into understanding motivations to go kayaking on a river: are you going for the adrenaline, the rapids or waves, the views or just to be in the outdoors with friends or like minded people.  Of course what also comes into consideration is the selection of river or even character of river to match the group of individuals motivations and finally practical matters such as shuttles, when to get on the river, when should be getting off the river, equipment that should be carried within the group and by who!

River Trip

Here we go into subjects such as:

Pre River Checks

Working in pairs we look at each others clothing and kayak and discuss the appropriateness to the Advanced White Water Environment.

Collaborative Support

This is all about looking after each other or keeping an eye out for each other throughout the river trip.  Checking in with your buddy or team to see how they are doing, are they getting tired physically or mentally, how is their body language.  Are they cold or what is more important in Austria is are they taking on enough fluids in the summer heat!

Settling in

It is all about finding a routine that tells the brain it is game on!  There are many different ways or approaches that kayakers go through such as splashing their face with water, rolling in the eddy at the put-in.  Steve for instance, rubs water into his neoprene spray deck as a ritual when he first gets into the eddy!

River running strategies

Here we will discuss, demonstrate and practice the use of different techniques or ways to run a river or rapid.  We will provide examples of river strategies that suited to each rapid or section of white water.

These can be:

1. All go - follow my line

2. Eddy hopping - only 1 kayaker in the current at a time

3. Buddy Buddy - working as a pair and paddling down keeping an eye on the others.  Much faster than eddy hopping as there would be 2 kayakers in the current.  The second pair should not overtake the first pair!

4. Buddy Buddy Leapfrogging - same as above but you overtake each pair.

5. Indian Style - No signal No go!

Equipment considerations

What equipment should we be carrying individually as well as team equipment and how it should be split within the group.

Do we require specialist equipment for certain rivers, such as steep creeking or kayaking through and deep gorge as just a few of the subjects we discuss and work on.

Emergency planning and procedures

Again we look at what emergency equipment we take on the river both individually and as a team and of course how we would use this equipment in an emergency situation.

Locating your Position

How do we locate our position on the river?  Can we use old school maps or a drawn river guide or what apps are available that we can use for locating our position.

Calling for assistance

How can we call and bring in external assistance, is there a telephone signal or are we too remote or too deep inside a gorge?

What numbers do we need to know, who do we need to ring.

Also do we need to notify the authorities when we lose a kayak or paddle and who to notify!

Walking out

If you decide that to kayak further down the river is no longer an option and you are going to have to walk out.  Have we planned for this at the beginning of the day, how easy is is to walk out, will we be trespassing and can vehicles get close are all questions we are going to have to answer and it makes life a lot easier and smoother if this has been pre-planned!

Casualty Management and Calling for Assistance

Dealing with a casualty in a white water environment will make a rescue from the authorities a little challenging and will take longer to not only reach the group but also to extract the casualty from the river.

Protecting from the Elements

Working out different ways to protect the casualty from the environment using just the equipment the team has carried on the river.

Using different approaches to protect the casualty from losing body heat and keeping the group warm and comfortable until the rescue services arrive.

Casualty Information

Using the ETHANE method we go through how to call the appropriate emergency services, their correct telephone number and understanding the emergency services capabilities and limitations.

Exact Location

Type of Incident

Hazards

Access

Number of casualties

Emergency services

Moving a Casualty

We go through a plan to extract the casualty depending on their injuries etc.  Moving a casualty who has for instance a shoulder dislocating, back injury, concussion or a broken bone.

Chase boating and equipment rescues

Chase boating

Understanding when and when not to chase a kayak is critical.  It is the responsibility of the individual and team members to decide whether chasing in your kayak is the correct and safest method at the time.  We work and talk about the protocol of Self, Swimmer, Equipment and how that works within the confines of chasing in your kayak.

Paddle rescues

We look at different styles of paddle rescue, whether it is picking it up and holding it with your own paddle, throw and chasing or finding a way or method to carry the paddle while kayaking.

Boat rescues

How do we rescue a kayak, what equipment can we use to help us.  We explore all these scenarios and go through their strengths and weaknesses while on the river and we each try different methods to see what the positives and negatives are.

Reuniting

How do we reunite kayakers with their equipment?  Can we just get them to walk down and meet us or do we have to transfer equipment or a kayaker from one side of the river to the other.

Swimming and rescues

By using a mellow flow of the river we can start to work on our fundamental techniques of swimming and rescuing swimmers.

Swimming

Understanding the different techniques of swimming in white water such as L

Defensive swimming 

Floating down the river with our feet downstream, hips up and chin to chest looking forward, learning how to change direction and rolling to initiate aggressive swimming.

Aggressive Swimming

Being more proactive in the white water by moving around the river more positively, laying on our stomach and actively swimming using the front crawl technique.

Rescue a swimmer from a craft

Learning to support a swimmer when you are in your kayak by loudly communicating, reminding them to swim safely (keeping the feet up and not trying to stand up on the river) and by trying to direct them to a safe area or mellow piece of white water to enable them to get out onto the river bank!

Craft based rescues

Throughout this session we will be refreshing and introducing the principles behind kayak based rescues on advanced white water.  We will look at understanding rescuing in our kayaks on features such as drops, retentive holes or stoppers, longer complex rapids and also dealing with an incapacitated paddler.

Rescue a simmer using a throw bag

An introduction and explanation of the various types and styles of throw bags and lines including colour, diameter and length.

We will explain the importance of the Clean Rope principle.

Demonstrations of various throwing techniques, their uses and their drawbacks.

A lot of group practice both swimming and being rescued by a throw bag from various river bank heights, under trees or shrubs etc

Finally having a buddy to belay or offer additional stability and support when using a rescue rope in an advanced environment.

Rescue a swimmer from a stopper

By progressing the session from a flowing environment to one where a swimmer is stuck in a stopper or hole we can now focus on extracting the swimmer safely out of the hole and onto the river bank.

We look at the concept of reaching the swimmer stuck in the hole with a throw line, how we can add flotation to aid the rescue and just how to do we go at extracting a swimmer from a hole or stopper.

Retrieving kayakers and kayaks

Talking through the typical environments that kayakers and kayaks could get stuck on a Class 2 or Class 3 river including stuck in trees, foot entrapment, stuck on a rock or in a stopper.

Paddling Out

Understanding how to paddle out to rescue a kayaker or a piece of equipment with an emphasis on rick, approach and an extraction plan

Wading

Understanding the importance of the appropriate depth for wading and its dependence on speed of water and river bed conditions.  Working on different techniques to wade into the river such as using a paddle, attaching a rope.

Quick release buoyancy aid harness

Understanding and comparing the different harness designs that are on our pfd’s or buoyancy aids, looking at the positives and negatives.

Explaining the role and use of the metal buckle behind the release toggle and making sure the harness is of the correct length.

Looking into attachment points for chest harnesses and the possible ways in which this can be carried out incorrectly such as attaching a non locking carabiner to a harness. 

Support from the bank

Working on a plan and methods that can be adopted to different scenarios and the forces applied to supporting a swimmer or someone that is wading into the main current.  Checking the system before anyone enters the river so that it is as safe as possibly can be.