2006 Washington State Search and Rescue Conference, Enumclaw, May 19-21

Swiftwater Rescue Technician III

Course Details

Instructor: Instructed by Casey Garland
Dates: May 16th through the 19th
Notes: This is a fee course. For more onformation, or to register, please contact Casey Garland at rp-info@riverpeople.com.

DAY ONE: Classroom Lecture

Depending upon students previous experience, this portion of the class can be conducted in an afternoon or evening session. Rescuer safety training and equipment. Swiftwater dynamics and hazards. Medical problems and considerations. Cold water near drowning. Rescue videos.

DAY TWO: On-river Practical

Swiftwater safety and signals. Swimming safely in rapids with control. Floods and shallow water crossings, controlled log swim, combat swims, foot entrapment and live bait rescues. Introductions to ropes, knots and technical gear. Mechanical advantage rope systems, two and four point boat tether systems.

DAY THREE: On-river Practical

Cervical immobilization, boat handling and boogie boards. Dealing with family and bystanders. Cross river communications. Tension diagonals and line crossings. Boat wrapping.

DAY FOUR: On-river Practical and Field Test

Team organization and preplanning. Highline with boat on tether, de-briefing and critique. Skills testing. Final written exam, course evaluation and certification.

The SRT Level III course is a physically demanding and potentially dangerous course, each student will be required to accurately assess their current physical health and sign a liability waiver form.

Each student will be responsible for providing his or her own:
  • lifejacket
  • wet or dry suit
  • foot protection
  • lunches
  • knife
  • helmet
Students must have swimming skills. Rescue gear, boats, text books, materials certification and badge will be provided by Rescue 3 NW. The timing of the first day or evening of classroom lecture and instruction is flexible. The class time for the on-river practical sessions is 8:30am to 5:30pm daily. This is a brief outline. Over 40 skills and topics will be covered. While my courses are generally a mix of private boaters, agency personnel and river guides, sometimes classes lean toward one group more than the other. To that end, I always endeavor to modify the course content to accommodate the special interests while full-filling the certification requirements. The most common comments I receive on the course evaluation forms are:

This course greatly expanded my comfort zone and understanding of moving water. Casey's experience and teaching style really show how the material relates in the field.

There is a lot of information to digest, the course should be four days instead of three.

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