Swift Water Rescue classes teach recognition and avoidance of commmon river hazards, self-rescue techniques, and techniques for rescuing other distressed paddlers.

Lessons focus on safety while covering topics such as: proper use of a rescue vest, knots and rope techniques, hand and whistle signals, strainer drills, foot entrapments, boat based rescue, live bait rescue, v-lowers, scene management, and more. Students practice these skills through simulated live rescue scenarios.

Our first Swift Water Rescue class was held September 13-14. It was beautiful weather at the Nolichucky River, TN; comfortable cool water, sunny, and temps in the upper 80’s.

We couldn’t have asked for more from this exceptional experience. The class was taught by Edgar Peck and Jah Will Hanah, giving us the benefit of two great instructors.

We also had a great class size of 8 people giving each of us plenty of opportunity to practice our newly learned skills.

I learned so much, and had so much fun taking this class. It’s hard to single out highlights, however, I did enjoy the strainer drills, live bait, and final rescue scenarios quite a bit and look forward to opportunities to practice these techniques (in a non-emergency situation of course).

The biggest personal change that I think will result from this class will be in my mindset. The things I see, the way I see them, and the action I would take will all be drastically different as a result. This was also great training on working as a group; a necessity when working with ropes and dealing with multiple victims.

A big, big thanks to Edgar and Jah Will. And for everyone else, It’s been said many times before this, this class should be an essential part of your skills as a responsible paddler.

Be Safe out there.
-Eric Stuart