Philosophy
Persons engaged in paddling are doing so for the fun, excitement and enjoyment offered by the sport. It is the obligation of both trip leaders and participants to operate in a manner that insures that everyone has an enjoyable, positive experience and, at the same time, to follow the highest standards of safety in order to avoid accident, injury or loss. To pursue the twin and seemingly contradictory goals of fun and safety requires an operational approach to safety in which we do the things we wish to do in the safest manner possible, or at least with an acceptable margin of risk and with reasonable support and protection.
Trips differ in type, difficulty, size, length, duration, purpose and structure. Participants must have the boats, equipment, skills and attitudes required for the trip they are planning to run. Trip classification should be realistic, and participants should make a realistic appraisal of their own paddling abilities.
Before the Trip
Leaders should screen boaters to be sure they are prepared for and understand the nature of the proposed trip. More difficult or strenuous trips will require tighter screening. If boaters are not prepared for a trip, they should not be on it and the leaders should suggest alternate trips or suggest ways that they can improve skills or equipment. Leaders should obtain emergency phone numbers from participants and carry a copy of that list on the trip.
Leaders should screen for:Except on the easiest trips, discourage carrying passengers, small or non-paddling children or pets. Watch children for hypothermia. Protect pets by leaving them at home or providing lifejackets.
Minimum equipment for easy warm weather trips would be:For harder trips or cold weather add as needed:
The leader should carry supplies, extra paddles, food, clothing, shelter, stove, water, first aid kit, flashlight, etc., beyond his personal needs for group use if necessary.
It is recommended that all people who paddle have training in first aid and CPR.
The leader should also be aware if he (she) is organizing a trip with a strong party or a weak one. If party strength is not sufficient he should (preferably before everyone is at the river) either take steps to correct the situation, such as recruit more strong boaters, eliminate weak ones, supplement the group equipment, change the location of the trip, etc., or cancel the trip.
The group may be weak if it has:A party may be large and still weak; a small party can be very strong. Judgment is necessary. Repeated rescues of even one boat on a fast, cold river can tax the abilities of a large, strong group.
People should be sure to get enough sleep and to eat well before a trip in order to have the energy needed for paddling, for rescues, and to combat hypothermia. Paddlers should also keep in good physical condition by engaging in some type of regular fitness program.
At the Put-In
At the put-in the leader should check boats and outfitting and make any suggestions necessary. Check especially that everything is tied in securely to prevent risks taken recovering lost equipment. Flotation should be secured so that it stays in the boat. To prevent entanglement there should be no long unbreakable cord on bailers or anything else.
On the shuttle it may be wise to place cars at potential bail-out points; they might be needed.
The trip leader should conduct a pre-trip discussion with all participants. He (she) should state the goals and purpose of the trip, the proposed itinerary and schedule, and talk about trip procedures, safety and rescue procedures and river signals. He should make the hazards of the particular river to be run known to all participants. He should suggest that persons who do not possess sufficient skills to run the river reconsider their decision to join the group. The trip leader should emphasize that no one's safety can be guaranteed and that each person must be responsible for his (her) own actions. If the situation warrants, the leader should cancel the trip and leave the area.
On the Water
On the water the leader is responsible to the group. He must organize the trip so that it is safe and enjoyable for all participants. All participants and especially the leaders should keep watch over the other people on a trip. The best way to deal with accidents is to avoid them by anticipating problems.
Everyone on rapid or cold rivers must wear a PFD (lifejacket) and it must be fastened, zipped, closed and tied completely. Loose PFD's will ride up on the body, reducing their effectiveness, and may even pin the arms or come off over the head.
Assign a lead boat, not necessarily the trip leader. Lead boaters should be strong paddlers with good river and rescue skills who know the section of river. Other paddlers should not pass the lead boat, and they should stop promptly if the lead boat stops. The lead boat should stop above all major rapids and at good play spots. The rapids can then be described to the rest of the party or can be scouted.
The leader should stay with the trip or designate a substitute leader if conditions make it necessary for him (her) to leave the group. Any participant who decides to leave the group should inform the leader before doing so.
In general, there should be a sweep boat to bring up the rear. The sweep boater should be equipped and trained for rescue. Although the sweep should maintain contact with the last boats in a group, he need not stay rigidly behind them. Sweep boats are not effective as safety boats on rivers where people and boats get swept away downstream rather than getting caught on rocks. The sweep and the last few boaters should not be the slowest paddlers on a trip, or they will be left behind.
The lead boats should not run away from those behind them. If the group seems to be getting too spread out, stop and gather it back together. A trip should be kept together and cohesive both for safety and to help people feel that they are part of the group instead of wandering downstream in single file, essentially alone on the river.
The group should warm up at the beginning of a trip by doing ferries, surfing, eddy turns and paddling upstream. Warm-ups are a great morale booster and also allow the leader to assess the skills of paddlers he may not know. Encourage everyone to join in. This is also a good time to begin helping anyone whose paddling skills are marginal. If people are having trouble it is better to stop early in the trip and help them than to rescue them repeatedly later.
If people are still having trouble, assign one or two "buddy boats" to help them along. Have them sneak, line or walk the more difficult stretches if possible or let stronger paddlers run their boats through. In more extreme cases it may be necessary to split a weak tandem team and pair them with stronger boaters. However, this reduces the rescue abilities of the stronger paddlers.
While on the water, each paddler should take responsibility for the boat behind. It should be kept in sight and within reasonable rescue distance. After going through a rapid or going around a bend where contact with the following boat is lost, pull over, eddy out, and wait until the next boat comes through before going on. The following boat then waits for the next boat. This sets up a running safety boat system that will not slow the progress of the trip much.
At more difficult rapids the lead boats should stop and bring the group together to discuss the rapid or to scout it. Several strong, experienced boaters, whose chances of successful negotiation are very high and who can look out for each other, should go through first and set up at the bottom as safety boats before the others go through.
If the rapid is very difficult, safety precautions should be taken before the first boat goes through. Multiple throw ropes may be set up if the location is suitable. Remember that throw rope rescues require preplanning and practice, are only effective on narrower sections, and require an alert and conscious swimmer who is holding on to his equipment and a rope thrower who can hit him. As important as throw ropes may be, they are more often useful during recovery operations than for rescues. It might be necessary to carry or line safety boats to the bottom of a rapid for effective protection. Paddlers should wait until everyone is through the last obstacle before taking off the river for lunch or a break.
Individuals who are uncomfortable with a rapid should be allowed to walk or line it. Respect their decision not to run a stretch and don't pressure, harrass, or embarrass them.
Playing should be encouraged as an aid to improving boat handling skills. Encourage people to stretch their limits; support people who are doing so. Observe common courtesy: one boat at a time, don't push other boats out, don't monopolize the spot, take turns. Don't get in other peoples' way when playing and don't run over people who are playing. Boats coming downstream have the right of way. Unless it is specifically a play trip, players should be considerate of others and move downstream in a reasonable time.
Don't assume that someone is so good that he (she) will not get in trouble. An advanced boater may get in trouble pushing his limits. Also, he (she) may be paddling a boat that is tricky to handle even if he looks very secure in it.
Be aware of river hazards and watch out for people paddling near them. The most deadly types of hazards are lowhead dams, undercut rocks and strainers. Stay away from dams, but on any very small dams or ledges you are tempted to run, be aware that a smooth, bubbly surface downstream indicates a deep backwash.
Don't abandon safety procedures if you get rushed, are running out of daylight, the weather changes or for any other reason that may tempt you. Remember: Avoid Accidents.
Rescues
Even the most experienced paddler may find himself in trouble occasionally. When this happens, don't give up. Try to accomplish a self-rescue, whether it is an Eskimo roll or swimming yourself and your equipment to shore. Open boaters should keep paddling and bracing to try to keep the canoe upright. If you can stay under control, you can paddle a swamped or even a submerged boat to shore. Flotation helps.
If you find yourself swimming:If a rescue is going on below the rapid you are preparing to run, do not run the rapid until the rescue is complete unless you are needed and your chance of successfully negotiating the rapid is high. Don't add to the problem.
Get people out of the water and warmed up. Check for injuries. Watch for signs of hypothermia. Repeated swims are taxing. If the water or weather are cold it may be necessary to institute a two or three swim rule: People must take off the river after two or three swims. Don't be a hero after a swim--accept other people's assess- ment of your condition. Poor judgment is a symptom of hypothermia.
In case of an injury, administer first aid then consider whether the injury is serious enough to preclude further paddling. Can the person be safely transported as a passenger or non-paddling bow person? Consider the condition of the person and the river, access to help, the distance to the nearest bail-out point, etc. If the person cannot be safely transported, leave at least one person with the injured party while the remaining paddlers finish the trip or reach a point from which held can be summoned, whichever comes first.
More complex rescues involving pulling pinned boats off rocks and evacuation should follow guidelines given in rescue books such as Bechdel and Ray's River Rescue.
As one last point, paddlers should recognize the difference between a rescue and a recovery. Considerable risk may be taken during a rescue and rescuers can become very emotional, forceful and highly motivated to act quickly, particularly if time is short or the victim is under water. But if the rescue has become a recovery, with only the boat pinned or with the victim dead beyond question, then the rescuers should take time to evaluate the situation. A recovery should be carried out in a calm and restrained manner that avoids further risk and injury. It may even be the case that the risks involved outweigh the possible gains, in which case the recovery attempt should not be continued.
Conclusion
A river trip should be fun, safe, and enjoyable for all paddlers. The best way to ensure that the trip meets all these criteria is to operate in an aggressively safe manner, so that all participants are paddling in a supportive group. Paddle as if you are among friends you like and care about.
Copyright 1986, 1994 by James C. and Susan D. Herring.
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