This is a formal ACA (American Canoe Association) Class. As such, we have a very limited amount of time to convey a great deal of information. To make this class successful, we need to stick to the following ground rules:

• Classes will start at 8:00 AM sharp, try to arrive by 7:30 AM as parking is tight at Lock 5
• We will try to wrap up classes by 5:00 PM
• Proper boating gear and clothing are essential. All participants should bring their own throw rope and have proper flotation in their boats.
• Pay special attention to your footware, no loose sandals! Rescues often involve wading in current with challenging bottom surfaces
• If you have questions, please ask them
• Do only what you are comfortable with
• No peer pressure!
• Try to set aside time for reading these documents, at least ones that interest you.

This is a very comprehensive 2 day class with a great deal of information. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the body of knowledge. This collection of HTML articles should enable you to go back and review any fuzzy areas. If you have any questions at a later date, fell free to contact me. As mentioned elsewhere, try to work in small practice drills to keep your rescue skills sharp.

Every class we teach has different types of students with varying needs. I tend to run a very organized and some say - fast paced class. I try to keep a close eye on my students and my assistants provide a great deal of help in this area. I expect students to come prepared (proper gear, read some of the material, get a good night's sleep, etc.). If I notice a crucial skill (like throw rope work, swimming, etc.) needs more time, I reserve the right to shorten or skip a less important topic in the best interest of the class. Questions from the students and assistants are quite valuable to the instructors. If you have a question, don't wait - ask it.

This website is a compilation of a number of articles and various web resources that cover all topics listed in the ACA (American Canoe Association) Level 4 Swiftwater Rescue (SWR) suggested curriculum. The ACA SWR class is essential training for all intermediate and above kayakers. The training provided in the SWR class not only teaches you techniques for potentially saving your boating buddies, it also provides valuable guidance on how to avoid incidents in the first place.

When I teach this class, I feel it is very beneficial to have students review this material at their leisure from home. The SWR discipline is very extensive and quite challenging to cover in just one weekend. I also recommend students purchase a copy of the Whitewater Rescue Manual (Walbridge & Sundmacher) and/or River Rescue (Slim Ray) - both are excellent resources you will enjoy for many years to come.

Real incidents are very stressful events. This is no time for learning on the job as not only victims lives are on the line, so are bystanders and rescue persons. We have learned a great deal over the years on what works and what doesn't. Les Bechdel and Slim Ray were early pioneers for these skills and have trained numerous SWR professionals. Charlie Walbridge maintains the AW Safety Database and is a leader the ACA SWR Training community. The Whitewater Self Defense DVD is an excellent learning tool as well.

We start this class by getting to know the participants, their paddling backgrounds, and perhaps specifics goals they are interested in learning during this class. Safety in all ACA classes is absolutely paramount. A key rule in every ACA class is the concept of "Challenge By Choice". Put quite simply, if a particular exercise is well beyond your comfort level - skip it.

Course Overview

The Swiftwater Rescue workshop teaches recognition and avoidance of common river hazards, execution of self-rescue techniques, and rescue techniques for paddlers in distress. Emphasis is placed both on personal safety and on simple, commonly used skills. Techniques for dealing with hazards that carry greater risks for both victim and rescuer, such as strainers, rescue vest applications, entrapments, and pins, also are practiced. Scenarios will provide an opportunity for participants to practice their skills both individually and within a team/group context.

Minimum personal equipment for class: PFD designed for whitewater use, whitewater helmet, protective clothing suitable for extended swimming in cold water, protective footwear, boat, paddle, whistle, throw rope, 15+ feet of one inch tubular nylon webbing, 2 locking carabiners, and 2 prusik loops.

NOTE: The CCA brings a gear bag with lots of extra prusik cords and climbing webbing for knot tying practice.

This is a two-day class to be taught on rivers up to class II rapids.

ACA Official Curriculum: Level 4: Swiftwater Rescue

Introduction, Expectations, & Logistics	Rescue Philosophy
Welcome, introductions, paperwork	Accident avoidance and proactive rescue
Student & instructor course expectations and limitations	Accident timeline
Course itinerary & site logistics	Prevention and “what if…?” strategy
Review waiver, assumption of risk, challenge by choice, medical disclosure	Prior planning for accident management
About the ACA	Priorities
PFD policy (always wear on water)	Me, my group, bystanders, the victim
Appropriate personal behavior	Simple and fast to complex and slow
No alcohol / substance abuse	Liability and Ethical issues
Proper etiquette on & off the water	Negligence, duty to act, breach of duty, harm, standard of care, abandonment
Respect private property	Moral vs. legal obligation to act
Practice Leave No Trace ethics	Trip leader vs. common adventurer
ACA Safety Resources	Trip Organization
The Paddling Environment	Trip planning principles
Wind	Emergency action plan
Waves	Lead and sweep
Weather	Know the group, the river and the weather
Water	Plan the trip and communicate the plan
Personal Preparation
Personal Ability
Swimming Ability
Water comfort & confidence
Fitness, conditioning, and warm up
Safe paddle and boat handling
Safety and rescue considerations
Personal equipment (reviewed by Instructor)

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Scene Management	Rescue Vest
Locate, access and assess, stabilize and transport	Multi-use rescue tool
Prioritizing the rescue	Components of the vest
Most rescues performed quickly, without a formal structure	Sewn in harness
Larger groups and longer rescues often need more structure	Quick release buckle
Incident Command structure	Belt
Leader	Hazards of the vest
Safety	Buckle jam (avoid by correct release, smooth belt end and appropriate belt length)
Rescuer	Cross lock harness and belt (avoid by using only locked carabiners)
Additional roles – medic, rigger, runner, …	In-water risk exposure (avoid by practicing and recognizing limits)
Complete the rescue without compounding the situation	Tow tether strengths, limitations and hazards
Communication (AW signals)	Communications
Hand and whistle signals	One hand waving in air means “help me”
Cell phone or radio if appropriate	Point with one or two hands for directional changes
Medical Issues	Applications
NOT a first aid class; perform medical care to your level of training	Anchor and belay
Don’t make the situation worse	Towing boats or gear (with tether)
Obtain more training; calling 911 is rarely an effective option	Personal extrication
Rescuers need to be able to handle common medical problems including hypothermia, drowning, cuts and scrapes, and dislocations/broken bones	V-lower and direct lower
CPR and Wilderness First Aid skills are essential for rescuers	Live bait (preset and “on the fly”)
Equipment	Uses limited only by your imagination
Protection from rocks and water
Shoes, helmet, PFD
Thermal Protection
Wet suit vs. dry suit, wool vs. synthetics, avoid cotton in cold/wet conditions
Personal rescue gear
Boat, paddle, whistle, throw rope, knife, saw, first aid kit, rescue PFD
Group rescue gear
Survival kit, haul rope, communications, …
Specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather
Survival equipment
Food, water, extra clothing, shelter, fire making supplies, …
Specific needs depend on the river paddled and local weather

 

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Throw Ropes	Line Ferries and Line Crossings
Selection based on rope material, diameter, and length	How do you get a line across the river?
Advantages and disadvantages of traditional bags, waist bags, coiled lines	Essential skill for many rope-based rescues
Care of the rescue rope	General principles
Avoid sun exposure, keep clean, avoid stepping on the line, avoid sharp or rough edges	Look for narrow areas
When in doubt, replace the line	Look for clear throwing zones
Rope Safety	Establish a line receiver
Avoid standing over lines	Tethered line receiver using rescue vest
Avoid tensioning lines perpendicular to current	Keep the line as high as possible out of the water, to avoid drag
Keep your body out of loops in the line	Upstream safety and downstream safety vital
Consider clean line techniques	Throwing techniques
Keep entire rope in bag to avoid accidental deployments	Direct throw
Throwing and recovery zones	Buddy throw
Consider where the victim will land, don’t make their situation worse	Messenger line
Types of throws	Boating, swimming, and wading techniques
Over-arm (football and arc), underarm, side-arm	Use a reverse pendulum and, whenever possible, keep the line out of the water
Deploying less than full length for close targets	Downstream loop
Factors impacting an accurate throw	Rescue vest
Rope length and diameter, brush and trees, footing, distance to target, cold hands, practice	Simple line crossings
Receiving the rope	Pendulum (can be done with multiple people, vector pull speeds the pendulum)
Hold over your shoulder, with hands on your chest and elbows tucked into stomach	Hand over hand tag line (hard in fast water, excellent wading assist)
Rope ideally 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

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Knots	Mechanical Advantage
Components of a good knot	Key for advanced unpinning techniques and rope rescues
Recognizable form, strong, easy to tie and untie, minimal rope use, minimal loss of rope strength, common use	Places team at higher risk, takes time, and is complex
Terminology	Safety rules
Standing and running ends, bights, loops	Use dampers when possible
Key actions	Use brakes when possible
Set, dressed, backed up	Stay out of the line of fire
Figure eight family	Pull with your back towards likely failure point, wearing PFD and helmet
Strong, easily tied and recognized, fundamental rescue knots	Consider directional changes
Figure 8, figure 8 on a bight, figure 8 followthrough (as both a loop and a bend)	10 boy scouts
Additional important knots	Vector pull standard method and progressive vector
“no-knot” (friction hitch), butterfly knot, clove hitch, two half hitches, water knot (for webbing), double fisherman’s bend, prusik	Good for MA, bad for anchors
Many other knots available; these form the foundation of river rescue	3:1 (Z-drag)
Knot mastery comes from practice; plan on tying knots with cold hands, under water
Anchors
Foundation for many advanced skills
Places team at higher risk; consider what happens if the anchor fails
Good anchors
Are close to the load, and in line with it (anchor-belayerclimber concept)
Are close to the load, and in line with it (anchor-belayerclimber concept)
Can be attached to a haul line
General concepts
Stay low to the ground
Pad or, better yet, avoid friction points
Consider what happens if the anchor fails
Internal angles ideally less than 90 degrees
Hard on soft, soft on hard
One point anchors
“no-knot”
Simple loop
3 bight (internal angles should be less than 90 degrees to reduce risk of triloading carabiner)
Two point anchors
Use with marginal anchors, when a live load is attached, and just on general principles
Load distribution and selfequalizing loop
Expect the load to move
Other resources

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Pins	Stabilization, snag, and cinch lines
Avoid getting pinned or entrapped by recognizing hazards	Upstream and downstream safety is essential
Pin mechanics	Consider what happens when the victim is freed; consider pre-set live bait
Balance between gravity, friction, and force of water	Fundamental tool for entrapment and pin rescues
Types of pins	Stabilization line
Vertical, center broach, end to end, pinch pin, flat pin	Supports trapped victim
Release by unbalancing forces	Set a sharp downstream pointing V in the line for optimal support
Tag line on boat for recovery after release	Line ideally should be under armpits and support victim in heads up position
Consider what happens when the boat releases	Very effective, with documented saves o Very difficult for unresponsive victims – requires some victim cooperation
Stabilization line to support trapped victim	Snag line
Cinch line techniques may be helpful for pinned gear	Line designed to release a foot entrapment
Self rescue	Tensioned and deep
Avoidance, high side to avoid flipping, wiggle off the rock, bail out	May need to be weighted or submerged with a paddle
If all participants are safe, waiting for low water may be a viable option	Cinch lines
Advanced techniques	Designed to wrap about victim and maintain control
Hull wraps/Steve Thomas rope trick with slippery clove hitch	Takes more time and practice
Raft tacos	Victim is at higher risk, but also is more secure
Entrapment	Very useful for pinned gear
High risk; hands-on rescue places rescuers near the entrapping object	Simple cinch – open and closed
Most commonly foot entrapments, strainers, or trapped in a boat	Lasso loop cinch
Avoid by hazard recognition, appropriate swimming techniques, and appropriate outfitting	Kiwi stabilization line/cinch
Extrication often requires hands on contact by a rescuer (e.g., two+ person wading techniques, live bait)
Keep victim heads up with stabilization line
Snag line to release foot entrapments
Cinch line to secure victim

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Hazards and Hydrology	Strainers
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	Wading
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
Swimming (60 minutes)	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

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"Live Bait" Rescues	Contact Rescues and C-spine control
Higher risk for rescuer, but fast and simple	Fast, simple, extremely risky
Requires rescue swimmer, rescue vest, locking carabiner, throw rope and belayer; vector pullers, backup belayers and landing zone helpers are useful	Very difficult to swim victim to shore
Downstream safety is essential	Redundant downstream safety is essential
Victim psychology	Requires fins or nearcompetitive swimming ability
Normal: able and willing to assist in their own rescue	Recommended only for unconscious victims where no other option exists
Panicked / aggressive: extremely dangerous	Maintain in-line c-spine control to the extent possible and bring victim face up
Near (or counter) panic: initially nearly unresponsive, then becomes panicked	Crossed wrist method for fast moving water
Unresponsive: assume Cspine injury for unconscious victims	“Body sandwich” for deep slow moving water V-lowers
Timing for water entry is key, and takes practice	V-lowers
Hold 10 to 20 feet of rope on entry (toss downstream)	Slower, higher risk, more complex
Entry ferry angle is key	Requires two belay teams, rescue vest, rescue swimmer, downstream safety, Locking carabiner and at least two throw ropes
Time entry so as to ferry di-rectly to victim	Allows direct maneuvering to rescue location
Avoid hovering	Hand signals and safety plan
Speak to victim	One hand waving in air means “help me”
Splash and back away for self protection	Point with one or two hands for directional changes
Rescuer safety is highest priority	Arching back to plane to surface
Turn victim and hold to PFD, or execute cross chest or surf carry	Hands behind head to help create an air pocket
Rescuer and victim belayed in to shore	Single rope technique for direct lower
Vector-puller on shore helpful	Higher water volumes and deeper water can overwhelm the rescuer
	Very effective as a wading assist
	Provides strong support for rescuer forced to work upstream of significant hazards

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Scenarios	Resources
Managing common river problems, including multiple swimmers and loose gear	Whitewater Rescue Manual (Walbridge and Sundmacher)
Debriefing to reinforce rescue priorities	Swiftwater Rescue (Ray)
Emphasis on what worked and what could be done differently next time	River Rescue (Bechdel and Ray)
Goal is to create appropriate confidence in training and techniques	Heads Up! (video)
Conclusion & Wrap Up	Whitewater Self Defense (video - Ford, Walbridge and DeCuir)
Group debrief / Individual feedback	River Safety Reports (Walbridge)
Course limitations	Whitewater Safety and Rescue (Ferrero)
Importance of First Aid & CPR	Kayaker’s Toolbox (video – Holt and Dickert)
Importance of additional instruction, practice, experience	High Angle Rescue Techniques (Vines and Hudson)
Importance of appropriate level of safety & rescue training	Rescue for River Runners (R3)
Demo advanced maneuver	The Final Exam
Life sport / Paddling options
Local Kayak Clubs
Handouts / Reference materials
ACA Membership forms
Course evaluation
Participation cards