River Safety & Rescue

ACA courses are open to all individuals who acknowledge the ability to perform the
following essential eligibility criteria.

1. Breathe independently (i.e., not require medical devices to sustain breathing).

2. Independently maintain sealed airway passages while under water.

3. Independently hold head upright without neck / head support.

4. Manage personal care independently or with assistance of a companion.

5. Manage personal mobility independently or with a reasonable amount of assistance.

6. Follow instructions and effectively communicate independently or with assistance of a
companion.

7. Independently turn from face-down to face-up and remain floating face up
while wearing a properly fitted life jacket*.

8. Get on / off or in / out of a paddlecraft independently or with a reasonable amount of assistance*.

9. Independently get out and from under a capsized paddlecraft*.

10. Remount or reenter the paddlecraft following deep water capsize
independently or with a reasonable amount of assistance*.

11. Maintain a safe body position while attempting skills, activities and rescues listed
in the appropriate Course Outline, and have the ability to recognize and identify
to others when such efforts would be unsafe given your personal situation.

• Welcome, introductions, paperwork.
• Student & instructor course expectations and limitations.
• Course itinerary & site logistics.
• Review waiver, assumption of risk, challenge by choice, medical disclosure.
• About the ACA.
• PFD policy (always wear on water).
• Appropriate personal behavior.
• No alcohol / substance use.
• Proper etiquette on & off the water.

• Personal ability.
• Swimming ability.
• Water comfort & confidence.
• Fitness, conditioning, and warm up.
• Safe paddle and boat handling.
• Safety and rescue considerations.
• Personal equipment (reviewed by Instructor)

• Weather conditions and forecasts.
• International scale of river difficulty.
• Characteristics of current.
• River levels and streamflow (CFS).
• Subjective vs. objective hazards.
• Effective river/rapid scouting strategies.
• River features & hazards:
o Downstream and Upstream V’s/chutes.
o Eddies and Eddy Lines.
o Waves/Wave Holes.
o Holes/Hydraulics.

o Ledges / Horizon lines
o Strainers: types, typical locations
o Rocks/Pillows
o Cold water immersion/response
o Dams / Flow Diversion Structures / Pipelines
o Undercut Rocks / Ice
o Flush drowning

• Helmet.
• PFD.
• Footwear.
• Craft & Paddle.
• Thermal Protection.
• Accessories: Knife, whistle, food, etc.
• Craft specific PPE (i.e. SUP leashes).

• Tubular webbing.
• Locking carabiners.
• Throw Rope.

• Personal Preparation: Swimming ability, Confidence, Fitness & Conditioning.
• Strategies to prevent or minimize incidents.
• Trip organization and planning principles: Float plans, emergency action plans.
• Communication: Hand/paddle and whistle signals.
• C.L.A.P. - Communication, Line of Sight, Avoidance, Position of Maximum Usefulness.
• Incident Timeline.
• Rescue Priorities.
• Responsibilities of swimmer/subject.
• Phases of rescue:
o S.T.O.P - Stop, Think, Observe, Plan
o L.A.S.T - Location, Assess/Access, Stabilize, Transport
• Rescue Management: Leadership, Safety, Rescuers, Subject (stable & unstable).
• Establishing Acceptable Level of Risk: Can I [do this]? Should I [do this]?
• Liability Issues: duty to act, breach of duty, harm, standard of care, abandonment.
• Ethical Issues: moral vs. legal obligations.
• Medical Issues & Considerations.
• Importance of Fitness & Conditioning.
• Rescue strategies for common river scenarios:
o Swimmer with/without equipment in current.
o Paddlers & Equipment on rocks in current.
o Boat pins with/without paddler.
o Entrapment.

• Causes and prevention of foot entrapment.
• Formal vs. informal wading techniques.
• Factors that affect success in wading: depth, force, composition of river bottom, number of waders, etc.
• Strengths, limitations, advantages, disadvantages, and risks of wading techniques.
• Four-point Crawl.
• Single Person Assisted Wade.
• Two-Person Wade.
• Line Astern Wade.
• Wedge Wade.
• Wading Applications for foot/boat entrapments.

• Strategies to minimize risk of foot entrapment
• Techniques for successful exits from current to eddys
• Defensive swimming position
• Aggressive swimming position
• Defensive to aggressive transitions
• Ferry techniques: defensive and aggressive swimming
• Self-Rescue: swimming with equipment
• Swimming techniques for: waves, hydraulics, and drops
• Strategies to conserve energy: short aggressive sprints, “porpoising” for in-water scouting, appropriate timing, etc.
• Managing holes and drops
• Swiftwater entries: in & out of water starting positions
• Strategies for handling strainers: aggressive swim in and over (Strainer bar must be hand-held)
• Techniques for successful downstream swim of a rapid

• Characteristics of throw ropes: rope diameter, length, construction material, and bag design.
• Rope management & safety strategies.
• Rope care.
• Rope hazards.
• Throwing and recovery zones.
• Factors impacting throw accuracy and success: stationary and moving targets.
• Single person throw rope techniques: underhand, overhand, and sidearm.
• Bag re-stuffing techniques.
• Advantages and disadvantages: bag and coil throwing techniques.
• Rope coiling methods and throw techniques: butterfly and coil.
• Rope receiving techniques.
• Communication with swimmers.
• Techniques for handling multiple swimmers.
• Vectors pull to assist with landing swimmers.

• Belay techniques:
o Hip belay, seated belay, and back-up belay
o Dynamic and friction belay
• Pendulum use for crossing current

• Knots: components of good knots, dressing, terminology, strengths, and limitations
• Tie and properly dress:
o Figure 8 Family: standard, on bight, follow-through
o Overhand Family for webbing: Overhand on a bight, overhand bend
• Anchors:
o Components of solid anchor points
o Terminology
o Advantages, and disadvantages of anchor types
o Planning for anchor failure
o One-point Anchors: Friction Wrap, 3 Bight, & Single Loop
• Mechanical Advantage:
o Applications of MA in the rescue environment
o Risk management strategies: Scene Management & Dampeners

• Pin mechanics
• Types of craft pins
• Boat-based techniques for pins
• Stabilization, Haul, and Control Lines
• Strong Arm Method
• Vector Pull & Progressive Vector Pull
• 1:1 with change in direction

• Advantages and disadvantages during rescues of various crafts: canoe, kayak, SUP, raft, prone kayak, river boards
• Paddle recovery options
• Strategies for boat recovery
• Self-Rescue: swimming with equipment
• Swimmer tow options
• Swimmer re-entry/re-mount techniques
• Craft bumping/bulldozing
• Craft towing (without use of Quick Release Harness System and tether)
• Craft specific rescues
• Unresponsive Paddler Rescue

• Simulated rescue skill sessions and scenarios will be used throughout the course to:
o Model and utilize effective risk management and rescue strategies
o Highlight essential skills for the course level and venue
o Increase skill and experience level of students
o Maximize learning outcomes for all students

• Group debrief / Individual feedback
• Course limitations
• Importance of First Aid/CPR and Wilderness First Aid
• Importance of additional instruction, practice, experience
• Local paddling groups / Clubs
• Handouts / Reference materials
• ACA Membership forms
• Course evaluation
• Participation cards