• Protection from rocks and water

• Rivers are powerful, predictable and persistent

• • Shoes, helmet, PFD 

• Subjective vs. objective hazards

• Thermal Protection

• • Poor judgment can be fatal

• • Wet suit vs. dry suit, wool vs. synthetics, avoid cotton in cold/wet conditions

• • River hazards don’t care if you don’t recognize them

• Personal rescue gear

• • Flooding dramatically increases risk

• • Boat, paddle, whistle, throw rope, knife, saw, first aid kit, rescue PFD 

• Water reading (upstream and downstream Vs)

• Group rescue gear

• Eddies and eddy lines

• • Specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather 

• Waves

• Survival equipment

• Hydraulics

• • Specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather 

• Strainers

Throw Ropes

• Horizon lines

• Selection based on rope material, diameter, and length

• Undercut rocks, broaching rocks

• Advantages and disadvantages of traditional bags, waist bags, coiled lines

• Foot entrapment risks

• Care of the rescue rope

• • Avoid sun exposure, keep clean, avoid stepping on the line, avoid sharp or rough edges

• • When in doubt, replace the line 

• Rope Safety

• • Avoid standing over lines, avoid tensioning lines perpendicular to current, keep your body out of loops in the line, consider clean line techniques, keep entire rope in bag to avoid accidental deployments

• Throwing and recovery zones

• • Consider where the victim will land, don’t make their situation worse

• Types of throws

• • Over-arm (football and arc), underarm, side-arm 

• • Deploying less than full length for close targets 

• Factors impacting an accurate throw

• • Rope length and diameter, brush and trees, footing, distance to target, cold hands, practice

• Receiving the rope

• • Hold over your shoulder, with hands on your chest and elbows tucked into stomach

• • Rope should sit on the shoulder opposite the target shore (to set ferry angle)

• Belay techniques

• • Hip belay, sitting, buddy, dynamic, tree 

• • Line on downstream side 

• Coiling and rethrowing

• Vector pull to assist landing

• Stuffing techniques

• Multiple swimmers

• Figure 8 knot and figure 8 on a bight