Heat Wave!!! Fortunately we were in the water for much of the Kayak specific river rescue certification this weekend at Mother Lode River Center on The South Fork of the American River. Temps on saturday were upwards of 100 degrees F. But that didn't slow us down too much. I had a group of private...

Foot or body entrapment rescue can be one of the more challenging and time sensitive problems we as swiftwater responders have to deal with. In such cases, the initial size up  is imperative, and should determine 3 things: 1) scene safety 2) Victim heads up or heads down 3) available resources. There are many more parameters...

Well it would seem that the guides from Barker Ewing took the last of the warm spring-like weather and left us in the grips of winter for the swiftwater training with Sands. Day 1 was frigid. Snow and mid 30's. We were fortunate enough to use Granite creek as our training site, and it just...

When you come on scene to a rescue, whether you are on a tactical response team, or a boating party (commercial or otherwise), there are certain steps to take that will help facilitate a successful rescue / recovery. The ultimate goal in any rescue is to save the victim(s), and manage the scene without subjecting rescuers...

Learning to read water is much like learning to read. First you have to know your A,B,C's. Next, you start putting together sounds, and soon your first small words. Then come bigger words, sentences, phrases, paragraphs, and finally complete books. It takes time to become profiecint at reading water, just as it does in reading...