Rescue Swimmers: Know Before You Go!

River Rescue Swimming:

What to Know Before You Go!

Solid swimming skills in moving water are essential for the swiftwater rescue technician. One general guideline WRI Instructors emphasize is that rescuers should choose the lowest risk rescue option available to access a victim.

Many potential rescuers have gotten in trouble by jumping in moving water instead of considering their lower risk options first. Why risk it when you might be able to coach someone to self-rescue, reach, throw, or row  and tow? River emergencies are dynamic and can require would be rescuers to make a split second life and death decision when there is no time, proper equipment, safety or back-up plan. Having said this, many times the simplest, most efficient rescue option requires us to get in the water and swim.

PREPARATION

Let’s look at some of the preparation that takes place before putting a rescuer into moving water. We start with training, and more training.. hopefully gaining enough experience so we’re equipped with good judgment on-scene. At the very minimum take a two to three day Whitewater Rescue class that gives you plenty of time practicing in the river. While you may come out of the class with a certification, these classes really are just an introduction to river rescue unless you have a decade of river experience under your belt already. So to become proficient you need to get a lot more river practice, develop solid water-reading skills, know how to recognize and avoid hazards, and begin to learn your limitations. Some Search and Rescue Units and Fire departments develop swiftwater teams and offer in-house ongoing training, giving rescue swimmers the opportunity to truly practice and develop their skills and experience. This also helps rescuers getting to know their rivers better in a variety of flows conditions, increases hazard awareness, appreciation of limitations, and access and evacuation preplanning.

Personal Equipment

River guides and experienced boaters have a great advantage because they already have their gear on and should be dressed for rescue when they are on the river. Equipment-wise we want the rescue swimmer dressed as follows:

Rescue PFD (w/ whistle & knife)

Helmet

Drysuit  ( w/ appropriate thermal layers)

River footwear (enclosed toes)

River gloves

Throwbag (on belt)

Fins

A drysuit that fits properly and doesn’t leak is a big bonus. If you are part of an agency with shared gear, always check your drysuit gaskets well before the season so tears and blown gaskets don’t get discovered during training or a rescue. We send ours in for repair in our offseason –a water test, small patches and a replaced gasket or two usually runs around a hundred bucks at Kokatat. Well worth it. Gloves will keep your hands warm and offer you some protection from the inevitable slips and stumbles that occur when you are scrambling around whore and the edge of the river.  For life jackets we like the lower profile kayak rescue vests that provide more freedom for swimming and arm movement.

River shoes or booties with a closed to will protect your feet from sharp rocks. We use thinner soled booties that fit our fins properly— you need to make sure this is a good fit and train with them so you can trust they wont come off in heavy whitewater. Fins are a big advantage for the rescue swimmer in any kind of water—in rivers you need to be more careful about foot entrapment ( some fins tend to sink your feet when you stop kicking). Towing a victim without a lifejacket in strong current is challenging enough with fins, without them it can range from  impossible to less efficient. We use body board style fins (i.e. Churchill) that give plenty of power and are lower profile than most dive fins.

SCENE- SIZE UP

The decision to jump in and help someone often happens in an instant.  Good training helps us make decisions that get us or our fellow rescuers hurt. Scenario-based training gives rescuers an opportunity to size-up a situation and practice safe, efficient decision-making. During rescue scene size –up we need to remember basic rescue principles. Rescuer safety is the number one priority… and the victim is the last priority. We are not going to consider a rescue swim unless we are 100 percent certain it is reasonably safe for the rescuer. This means we are using the right equipment, we have contained the scene with upstream and down stream safety, we have assessed the conditions and have a back–up plan in place. Before any rescue we need to consider the worst-case scenario for the rescuer in the attempt and take preventative measures so it cannot happen. Don’t just do something—stand there and look at the big picture, scan the river for signs of potential hidden hazards to avoid. Give careful attention to any potential for entrapment and downstream safety. With all of this in mind we’ll decide what is the safest, most efficient means of accessing and stabilizing the victim….and if we decide it’s a rescue swim….stay tuned.

Next time we’ll pick up here and discuss defensive and aggressive swims, contact rescues, conscious and unconscious river victims, and the roles of ropes and riverboards in rescue swimming…

Mike Johnston

WRI Instructor & Owner of Montana River Guides—a Missoula Rafting Company that has been offering guided whitewater riverboarding trips & rescue instruction since 1995.