Opinions on this river resuce situation

I agree -
always be sure humans are safe before going for gear. Especially in a day trip situation so you are not so concerned about losing gear and food. But, this turned out well so good for you. I hope this fellow understands what you did for him.

I was next to the 2 swimmers

– Last Updated: Apr-14-13 7:02 PM EST –

As they were swimming/floating (I honestly didn't even realize neither had PFDs on). All 3 (2 in the water, one in his kayak) were laughing and joking, everyone thought it was a non-issue and they would just swim to shore. Heck, the one still in his boat was taking photos/video, it was NOT an emergency at the start.

Sounds like I was right to keep my kayak out of his reach though (given that I don't have a skirt, nor the training/experience to do wet exits with a skirt).

So, plans at this point are to buy 2 throw bags, 2 paddle floats, 2 skirts (type TBD). Take a class on beginning whitewater kayaking (to help learn how to use the skirts, just for our own enjoyment ~ we're firmly in the "touring" realm for kayaking fun), and take a class on swift water rescue. Hopefully that'll cover the bases fairly well.

If…

– Last Updated: Apr-14-13 11:57 PM EST –

You need to get skirts, and flotation bags for your kayaks and a throw bag.
Some training wouldn't hurt if you plan to continue to assist in rescuing buffons.

Priorities: 1. paddler
2. boat
3. gear

If the swimmer is in a state of panic; you should have kept their boat, your boat, a paddle, or a pfd between you & the swimmer, to use as flotation for them,and/or to pull them to shore. Give them specific directions about what you want them to do, and what you are going to do. If you go after them in your boat; you & your boat will likely get dumped in any rescue attempt. Better left to the skilled paddlers.

Letting a swimmer in a state of panic grab you is a big NO NO! If they do grab you; get loose, and do whatever it takes to make that happen.
I do NOT suggest slugging them; never heard of that from any instructor trainer I had. Sounds bogus. Some will let go if you go underwater; they are using you in an attempt to stay above water. If this does work; a "firm" grip of a very tender spot & a guy will definitely turn you loose. If they don't let go; you ain't squeezing hard enough. Not kidding! When they let go(they will); get some distance between them & you, and maintain that distance. Not saying quit trying to help. I am saying you will do them no good if you allow them to drown you. You will need to learn to assess the situation, reassess the situation if necessary, and it probably will.

You can learn some talking/reading about rescue situations, but bottom line, the best thing you can do is take a class & then practice the techniques. Example: A throw bag is worthless, and may present an additional hazard to the swimmer, if you don't know how to use it correctly. That takes practice.

An introduction to Swiftwater Rescue class would be great; well worth the money & effort.
It might save someone's life someday.
The life you save may be yours, or you wifes.

BOB
Ex Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor
Ex Lifeguard Instructor
Been there; done that.

Did you say what section of the Flint
you were on? Rescue along Yellowjacket Shoals can be very difficult. But the Flint is usually very wide throughout the Pine Mountain area, and river width can make some shore based rescues difficult.

I’ve heard the suggestion
to slug them when I was getting rescue training at a yacht club I was member of - “do anything to get them off you, break their nose if you have to - noses heal, corpses don’t start breathing.” Knocking them out is probably not a good idea in the water though, for obvious reasons.

Effect of current

– Last Updated: Apr-15-13 9:53 AM EST –

One take-away about swimmers in current - you can't trust initial impressions if you don't know them. Swimming out of current is a matter of thoughtfulness and patience more than brute strength, and many otherwise decent swimmers have never experienced or practiced it. So they panic when they suddenly find they can't thrash their way out of it.

The other issue is speed in getting a swimmer out of moving water, as fast as possible. Even with pretty mild stuff, if a foot gets caught in rocks they can easily drown long before you've been able to free them. That is why you are taught to float feet first on top of the water, and on your back after a capsize in white water. The longer it takes to get to the swimmer, the more you risk foot entrapment.

The class will be good for you on a lot of scores. Just be prepared to crave more gear and more time in skills work.

Just north of 36 bridge
Actually, I guess that’s just West of 36 bridge after looking at the map (heh, I’ve only been in GA for 2 years). Just around the corner, and the shoals there weren’t too bad when compared to… I think my BIL said it was Table Rock… oh, googling a bit, the section where we did the rescue is called “Surprise Rapid” (I remember seeing the sign on the side of the river now), and it’s classified as a class II.



Now that I see Yellowjacket Shoals is a class III-IV ~ I don’t think I’ll be going past 36 bridge by boat anytime soon…

I’m 100% about being educated/prepared
20+ years as a motorcyclist, 30+ as an alpine skier, I’ve done rock climbing, mountain biking, back country camping, etc… my whole life. The take-away is that I rather enjoy being active in life and have learned that risk mitigation is the only way I’m going to continue doing fun activities (and all of those involve some element of risk) for several more decades of life. My goal is to get to “the end” (40+ years from now) with the most/best stories of things I’ve done in life. :smiley:



We had already been planning on taking an into to whitewater kayak class ~ couldn’t find the budget for it last fall when we first bought the (used) boats, but the priority for education… and thus the funds, have just risen sharply through the ranks along with the desire to be educated on rescue. It was an eye-opening experience, especially as someone who’s not accustom to doing anything in/on water (not much water in Wyoming and I’m Wyoming born/raised). I suspected there was a “work smarter, not harder” aspect to this rescue, hence asking here prior to getting some formal, in person, hands on education.



I agree fully that a rescue class may be used first to save my own life, or that of my wife, her brother, his girlfriend, or one of the occasional friends we seem to be taking with us on our trips now. If I can keep myself from a panic situation (or one of the above), I know that rescue will be made easier/more likely.



BTW, thanks for the edit, that cleared up a couple things that had me confused upon the first reading last night.

If anyone wants to see the section
of the Flint where this occurred, click on this link. Be sure to copy and paste the entire link.



http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?34634-The-Flint-River-Below-Spewrell-Bluff-Central-Georgia-USA&highlight=flint+river



I also paddled from Spewrell Bluff to hwy 36, but at a much lower level.










Good thing you two were there
That guy is lucky.



The only thing I could add to what’s been said is maybe assume the worst if you see a swimmer who isn’t holding their paddle or their boat.

those photos stop short…
Here are 2 my wife took when everyone was talking/joking:



In this one, my BIL is in the middle with the swamped canoe, the guy who swam to shore to the left of him (middle person), and the guy we had to help is even with his buddy in the kayak who’s taking photo/video:



http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae211/Brian–M/FlintRiver029_zps4cf36539.jpg



And here you can see I’m sorta between the 2 men in the water (yellow kayak), the 3rd of their party in the blue kayak also very near, BIL’s kayak on shore, and things were still peachy:



http://i973.photobucket.com/albums/ae211/Brian–M/FlintRiver028_zps510f352b.jpg



But that’s it as my wife went to help us pull things ashore.



I’m still amazed at just how fast it went from “ha ha, we dumped and are swimming, this is funny” to “he’s drowning” ~ it certainly was NOT in slow-motion, very much real time and yet like watching a TV/movie where someone drowns ~ I guess they got that part of “realism” down pretty good.

Water temps?
I don’t think this was mentioned, but at the mid 60s water temps, as listed here http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=02356000 I would not be surprised that the swimmer got a cramp or got disoriented from the cool water in their ears…

Water temps?
Maybe, maybe not…



I’d be more inclined to believe that a weak or non-swimming victim, not wearing his pfd, and having imbibed more than a little alcohol had a lot more to do with it than water temp.



BOB

Looks like it would have to be a
rescue from a boat, and I guess I would have given it a try, though a panicky and gasping swimmer is difficult and dangerous to help.



I don’t think the guy was in any danger of leg entrapment where he was on the river. The current there isn’t super strong. I’ve experienced leg entrapment, and it takes a stronger current to lock a leg into a slot.



The most difficult step, rescuing a guy from a solo whitewater canoe, is to get him to hang on so I can tow him, or to pull him aboard. A newby, weak from struggling, is not likely to be able to assist in boarding. And if he isn’t wearing a pfd, what is there for me to grab?



I remember one old lady who had popped out of a raft on the Nantahala. She took proper hold of my stern painter, but then she went into passive mode, and did absolutely nothing to help me tow her to the bank. But we made it anyway.

The leg entrapment concern
From the shots and the description it sounds like that was not a risk in this particular spot.



But it sounds as though there are stretches not far away from this spot where it could be an issue, and it is not clear whether this risk was part of the OPer’s assessment. In a case where it was thought of and felt to be a strong risk, it would strengthen the sequence mentioned above of swimmer then boat then gear.

Ropes


Getting a rope and keeping it handy is part of becoming a responsible whitewater paddler. You obviously need to practice throwing it, but most self/assisted/swiftwater rescue classes are going to give you a lot of opportunity. Or go to any easy popular Class III drop with easy access and pull people out all day (Nantahala Falls for example).



Always talk to the victim before you offer yourself or your boat. If they cannot comprehend and follow directions, stay back and let them come to their senses or drown (once they drown, they are easier to deal with than a panicked swimmer).



Rescue people first, but evaluate them before you get close. If they are purely freaking out, they will try to stand on your head. The worst rescuers are those who act to fast in many situations… Never put yourself in serious danger to rescue someone who is floating along without a vest in an obvious panic.



Look them in the eyes, talk to them. If they can’t follow instructions and converse with you, do not let them get to you. If they do, I was taught to dive deep and push off of them with my legs – very effective at serparating them from you if you are both in the water, but swimming out to them is a last resort. Even then a live-bait type rescue is preferred (rope attached to a rescue vest so others can haul you in from shore).



Some rescues require immediate action, but not generally in a pool after a rapid. If a non-swimmer has no vest on going through a Class II and almost dies, I’m going to let him go before I put myself too much at risk. Throw him a rope, sure. Let him have the front of my boat – only if he can talk and listen to me. Swim out to him – no. I’d go get him after he stops thrashing around and then administer CPR before I let him grab me and try to drown me.



Jim


Having run that section several times,
I would say that if someone flips at one of the ledges, they are unlikely to be able to get oriented and extend their legs to stand up quickly enough to risk leg entrapment. By the time they try to get feet on the bottom, the current will be too slow to entrap them. At higher water, when the current is fast enough, the water will be too deep to stand.



My own leg entrapment was on a similar river, but I was body surfing in a shallow chute where one had to keep one’s butt up to avoid breaking the coccyx. Unfortunately, as the current accelerated my body, my legs slanted down in spite of my attempt to keep them up, and one leg got caught under an upward slanting rock slab. I could only get a hand above the surface. If my knee had not given way and hyperextended, I might well have drowned in full view of my family and fellow paddlers. No one was aware of what was happening because body surfing that chute was common practice.

rescue
Sounds like a list of compounding errors. The relatively warm water temp and calm area for recovery saved the day. The unknown paddlers obviously need to learn a few thngs about river paddling. Wear a PFD, pay attention to companions in a capsize. You and your companions need to focus more on the safety of the people in a capsize and forget about the equipment. The most important thing to be learned is the difficulty in saving a drowning victim without a PFD. They will imperil your life. Throw them a rescue line next time.



The other point to made is that these type of things happen all the time on rivers. In cold water in continuous rapids someone may have drowned that day. Be ready with your technique and judgement next time and don’t imperil yourself trying to save someone else.

rescue

– Last Updated: Apr-22-13 3:33 PM EST –

I like jimyaker's post. Sounds like he has spent plenty of time with a rescue rope in his hands.

Ouch!
You kind of glossed over the hyperextension part…