• Rivers are powerful, predictable and persistent

• Lethal hazard, common cause of river fatalities

• Subjective vs. objective hazards

• May appear benign (it’s just a tree…)

• • Poor judgment can be fatal

• Possible approaches

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

• • Avoid (best by far)

• • Flooding dramatically increases risk

• • Aggressively swim into and over (best if can’t be avoided)

• Water reading (upstream and downstream Vs)

• • Defensive and/or passive (potentially fatal)

• Eddies and eddy lines

• Waves

• Safe eddy rule

• Hydraulics

• Swim instead of fighting for marginal footing

• Strainers

• Water depth, water speed, bottom conditions affect performance

• Horizon lines

• Maintain balance

• Undercut rocks, broaching rocks

• “Look with your toes”

• Foot entrapment risks

• One person with paddle/prop

• Two person

• Essential self-rescue and access tool

• Wedge

• Safe eddy rule, don’t try to stand in swift current

• Line astern

• Defensive and aggressive swimming

• Circle wading

• Strategies to conserve energy including positioning, short aggressive position sprints and “porpoising” for in-water scouting

Boat-based rescue

• • Breathing techniques – timing in waves and focus on downstream side

• Often fastest and easiest technique for boaters, but potentially high risk

• Defensive to aggressive transitions

• Essential to critically evaluate personal boating skill

• Aggressive upstream and downstream orientation (upstream ferry and downstream eddy catching)

• Many uses for boats

• Crossing eddy lines

• Ferries for people and equipment

• Ferry techniques

• Tool to sprint for help

• Swiftwater entries

• Paddle recovery

• • Modified belly flop; head and feet up, impact on the PFD

• • Throw, two paddles in hand, put in your boat

• • Enter water with a good ferry angle

• Boat recovery

• • Protect face with crossed arms

• • Bulldozer or shove

• • Consider crawling or sliding into water, especially if shallow and rocky

• • Set a ferry angle

• Managing holes and drops

• • Tow with tether system on rescue PFD

• • Ball up over drops

• • Tow with painter or tow line on boat

• • Escape holes by aggressive swimming towards ends, changing shape or

• Self rescue

• • Crawling to river bottom

• • Hold boat and paddle in one hand when swimming with gear

• Swimming with gear

• • Set a ferry angle

• • Keep boats downstream

• • Boat stays downstream or to the side of victim

• • Boat and paddle in one hand

• Swimmer rescues and assists

• • Hand of God rescue

• • Assisting victims back into boats

• • Strengths, limitations and techniques with canoes, kayaks and rafts

• • Stern and bow tows