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| If you paddle you have an obligation to yourself and to those you paddle with to learn good river safety. Following are some articles from some of our BWA Satety Officers. But they can only get you thinking about what you need to know and to do to boat safely. They are not intended to give you all the knowledge you should have for paddling whitewater safely! Remember, you need knowledge, experience, the right equipment and to boat with other safety-minded paddlers to paddle safely. Here are some links with additional safety information: American Whitewater Safety Page International Scale of Rating Rapids |
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| Bowlines March/April 1997 SAFETY CORNER Jim Daniel, BWA Safety Chairman With the recent unfortunate and tragic incident on Boone Creek, our club is rededicating itself to the dissemination of paddle sports safety standards. We have always espoused that properly trained and pre-pared paddlers are much more likely to enjoy their sport. That is why a majority of our clubs’ energies are expended on teaching activities such as our pool roll sessions, held for 10 weeks every winter, our spring beginners clinic and our kids clinic. |
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| Bowlines Nov/Dec 1997 Emergency Preparedness: A Wake-up Call Jim Daniels I was on the scene shortly after they pulled Mike Reisman out of the Ocoee on that fateful Saturday, November 1, 1997. I know how hard those good samaritans were working to save Mike, against ever increasing obstacles. While I watched in the cold rain, it kind of dawned on me that a lot of us who have been paddling for a while take the inherent risks for granted. After all, this was just the Ocoee, a river that most of us on the scene, including Mike, had paddled many times. I realized that this isn’t an amusement park, although it seems like it sometimes, and that OSHA hadn’t been here to assure its safety. Although I don’t know what he was wearing while he was paddling, Mike was now lying on that rock dressed only in a long sleeved poly top and shorts. He was barefooted, as I was, since we both were paddling RPM's. I was getting cold, and I had on a long sleeved polartec top under a drytop, with long wetsuit pants. I kept kicking myself for not having already purchased that space blanket I had been thinking about for cold weather paddling. I surmised that hypothermia must be exacerbating the problem of Mike going into shock and subsequently, cardiac arrest. Yet no one had anything to offer that could have been used to keep the elements off of him. This tragic accident occurred in a river near a heavily traveled road, with emergency help only moments away. I estimate Mike was in the ambulance within 45 minutes after he was pulled from the water. It exemplifies how fragile we humans are when injured and how fast life deteriorates under extreme stress. Most of us paddle in winter conditions that are much more remote than the Ocoee. Most of us are not even remotely prepared for dealing with an accident victim under these conditions, or even if we are hurt our-selves. This incident should be a wake-up call for all of us to be prepared for situations where members of our boating family could perish. After I got home, I purchased that space blanket (two bucks at Walmart, and it only weighs a couple of ounces). It will be in the first aid kit in my boat from now on, and I will replace it with a new one every year. We should all get back into the habit of carrying throw ropes, and knowing how to use them. We should all be trained in CPR and First Aid. We should all take a whitewater rescue course and practice the techniques we learn. We should dress like we are going to take a swim, even if we haven’t taken one for a while. We should wear full coverage helmets. These are just the bare minimums. If we paddle really remote areas, we should consider taking EMT training. I don't know if I had been carrying a space blanket on that day, it would have made any dif-ference. I would like to be able to turn the clock back and see. |
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| Bowlines Sept/Oct 98 Incident on the Gauley Jim Daniels A couple of 40 year old guys took the Lower "G" very lightly on Sunday. In my opinion, both guys were of questionable skill levels to be on that river without a guide. One was in a kayak and the other in a solo canoe. Both of them flipped at the top of Pure Screaming Hell. We watched from the last eddie on river left above the big hole, as this guy came flying past us floating beside his boat. The one in the open canoe swam to the right very effectively and didn't realize what a mistake he'd made until the very end of the swim. He found out that he had not entered the safety of an eddie, but rather a sieve, which he promptly was sucked into. Ellen and I peeled out and caught the first boiling eddie below the hole, which was between two big rocks and had its own sieve. We managed to get out of our boats without falling in ourselves, ran up the house sized rock on river right, and heard the screaming for help, but couldn't see anybody.....because he was under the rock. We finally lowered our angle enough where we could just see the guys hands holding onto a small branch of a tree. The situation looked very grim. There was about 6" of air between the strong current and the roof, but the surging cur-rent kept closed that gap without warning. Neither Ellen nor I had a throw rope with us, but the guy's paddling buddy did. He attempted to throw it to me, but it bounced off of the rock in front of me and into the rushing water, joining his friend. Another boater threw me his rope, and I dropped in only as much rope as necessary into the water. The trapped boater grabbed the line and I began to pull. I could see the rope slip-ping through his hands, and so his buddy wedged himself head down in between a crevice formed by the larger rock and the smaller rock I was standing on. From this position he could grab his buddy's wrist and pull. We attempted to pull again in this manner, but the trapped man screamed to wait and let him try to free his trapped leg. During this interim, it occurred to me to change our angle to a more straight out pull, rather than the up and out tension we had been exerting. Ellen and Amy positioned themselves on a rock directly in front of and about 20' away from the cave opening, and we passed them the rope. The trapped man was able to free his leg, so we pulled in unison again. This time, to our collective horror, the rope went slack. We had lost him. There was a moment of shock while I was trying to make my mind work. What next? There was only one thing we could do but it looked extremely hazardous, and that was to attach the rope to someone and lower them into the undercut. I was not ready to suggest this because of the unlikely success and danger. A few moments later, our victim flushed from the other side of the big boulder screaming for help again. He still was in danger because he was in the eddie where we had exited our boats, and the water was really swirling around in there. Another boater threw in his rope bag but there was way too much line and it was difficult for a moment for our victim to get hold of a section that had tension on it. We finally pulled him to the side and I held on to him to let him catch his breath. He was really spent and totally freaked out, as you can imagine. This throw bag entangled in an under-cut and we used my river knife for the first time, other than to cut cheese that is. Later, when we had him up on the rocks, he said "What is the name of this ***** little rapid that I just swam, anyway? I told him it was Pure Screaming Hell. He then said, "I didn't know what the ***** it was, I've never even been on this river before". He had just dodged a bullet. As we slowly and somberly climbed back into our boats I wondered what we would have been doing right then if luck had not been with this guy.. It would have been an awful way to have ended a beautiful Gauley Festival weekend. |
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| Thoughts on Survival Gear By Larry Cable January 28, 2005 There has been a lot of talk on Boater Talk and American Whitewater lately about what to take as survival gear for winter paddling trips. while I don't profess to be an expert, I've spent my fair share of time sleeping out rolled up in my poncho, so let me give you some of my lessons learned. What is Wilderness Survival? At the basic level, it's keeping the body within an acceptable temperature range, reasonably hydrated and with enough fuel to adequetely support normal body functions. It important to understand what body functions take priority and address those issues. Simply put, you will die of hypothermia/exposure before you die of thirst, you will die of thirst before you starve to death. The military survival courses (and the Boy Scouts) give ther priority of work as first aid (they are assuming an aircraft crash), shelter/protecton from environement, water and then food. From a boater's point of view and the time frame that we are talking about, only the first three really effect us, particularly shelter/protection from the environment and water. Lets take a look at these individually. When we talk about shelter/protection from environment, what we are really trying to prevent is hypothermia. So how does the body lose heat? The basic mechanisms of heat lose are conduction, evaporation, convection and radiation. So how do we prevent and/or slow these processes? The first and most important step is to dress for the environment. For winter and early spring boaters, in my opinion, a minumum level of dress should be drytop, layered pile/poly, neoprene or fuzzy rubber pants, and decent shoes. A farmer john is under the drytop is better, a drysuit is even better and a goretex/breathable drysuit is ideal. Remember that drysuits do not insulate, so wear the proper layers under it. If you can't wear shoes in your boat, get a different boat for winter creeking. Carry a helmet liner and a spare pair of pile of poly glove, you lose a lot of heat throught your head and hands. As a side note, if you are hiking, carry a full rain suit, a pile or wool hat and a pair of gloves. I carry water pirifications tablets with me on river trips. While you can probably survive for several days without water, especially in the southeast, dehydrations effects preformance fairly quickly and makes you a lot more likely to become hypothermic,so water becomes a survival issue a lot soon that most people realize. Take the tablets along and stay hydrated. A good alternative is a water bottle with the built in filter. Then all you need to do is scoop and drink. Be aware that silty water with clog a filter in a heartbeat, as will high tannin levels. I would still carry the tablets as a backup even with one of these units. Pur makes a chlorine based tablet if you are sensitive to iodine. So what do I carry in my survival kit? A survival blanket called a "heat sheet", LED flashlight, butane lighter, 2 "Wetfire" firestarters, a candle, water purification tablets (Potable Aqua), a small tube of sunscreen/bug repellant (this isn't a critical item in the winter, but I leave it in there anyway, a Fox whistle, a small compass, a piece of aluminum foil (wrapped around the candle), backpackers toilet paper (my single concession to civilized standards) and some kind of energy bar. All of this fits into a 32 oz Nalgene bottle with a bit of room to spare and weights around a pound. I prefer the "heat sheet" to a "space" blacket because it's a bit larger and the outside is blaze orange. Any of these aluminized poly film blankets to an excellent job of slowing radiant heat loss and help with evaporative and convective heat loss by blocking the wind. They do very little to prevent conductive heat losses, something to keep in mind if you end up trying to sleep in one overnight. The "wetfire"tinder blocks are small, burn hot, and will light when wet, and important issue if you are trying to start a fire with wet wood. An alternative to these are "esbit" fuel bars. They are small and will also light when wet, although not as easy as the former. The candle is a back up, it puts out surprising amount of heat if you sit it between you legs and block the wind with the survival blanket. You can actually heat water over it if you have a canteen cup (you can fabricate a cup to heat water with out of the aluminum foil in a pinch). The sound of a Fox whistle is supposed to carry farther than the standard, but this is something that I haven't tested. The compass I carry is a small Silva compass that will cIip to a pocket. I use a Princeton LED flashlight because of the size, brightness and long battery life. This kit is easy to throw into your butt pack or day pack if you decide to go for a hike too. I carry a seperate first aid kit in a drybox, although it is easy enough to put these items into a Nalgene bottle (the cheapest reliable dry storage). I carry a CPR shield and gloves in the pocket of my PFD, along with a whistle and a knife, my preference is a folding Spyderco Rescue. I carry a basic pin kit in a seperate small drybag (pin kit= 2 prussik loops, 2 carabiners, and 15' tubular webbing) plus a 5/16" spectra throwrope to complete my basic creeking gear. A couple of parting thoughts if it comes to the point that you are going to have to walk out/spent the night on the river. Walking out in the dark can be very dangerous and it's very easy to get lost if you are not on a clearly defined trail. Find or build some shelter and settle down for the night and walk out the next day. Be familar with the basic orientation of the area that you are paddling, where the roads and access points are and how to get to them. If you seperate from the rest of the party, they paddle out and you can't, have a plan on where you are going to meet and what the contingency plan will be if you aren't at the meeting. Learn how to build a fire when the wood is wet (hit: only the outside of the wood is wet generally, shave it off and burn the dry part. The dead limbs close to the trunk of standing trees are often dry even after a rain. If you end up sleeping out, try to insulate yourself off of the ground with dry leaves or dry grass, it helps with conductive heat loss into the ground. Hope this helps if you ever find yourself in one of these situations. |
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