Swiftwater Rescue: A Manual for the Rescue Professional - Softcover

Ray, Slim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964958503 ISBN 13: 9780964958500

Publisher: Cfs Pr, 1997

Synopsis

A comprehensive manual for swiftwater and flood rescue, aimed at rescue squads, firefighters, EMS personnel and administrators -- as well as anyone who might be faced with the possibility of a flood or swiftwater rescue. Topics include basic rescuer safety considerations, river hydrology, equipment, shore-based, boat-based, and in-water rescue techniques, medical considerations, rigging for river rescue, incident command, and swiftwater training. Densely illustrated with 235 line drawings and over 100 photographs, Swiftwater Rescue also covers advanced subjects like the use of helicopters and special situations like low-head dams and flood channel rescues.

About this title

About the Author

Slim Ray is an internationally-recognized authority on flood, swiftwater and whitewater safety and rescue with over fifteen years experience in swiftwater rescue, including course development and instruction with Rescue 3, Canyonlands Field Institute, and the Nantahala Outdoor Center. He co-authored River Rescue with Les Bechdel and has written numerous articles on the subject. He is an active recreational kayaker and has worked as a raft guide and canoe and kayak instructor both in the US and abroad. He has been the American representative in several international river safety conferences and organized the International Safety Symposium (ISS '90) in the US.

Reviews

...a must for all outdoor rescue personnel. It examines all contemporary tools found in the swiftwater rescuer's tool box...an exhaustive collection of current rescue techniques and swiftwater safety.

...the most complete text ever written on the subject. It should be mandatory reading for all public safety personnel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 1:

Water rescue is a huge field. It includes swiftwater, lake rescue, surf and off-shore rescue, ice rescue, underwater rescue, and much more. A very common mistake is to think that because you are expert in one of these areas that you are expert in them all. Swiftwater rescue, however, is a unique field, very unlike other water rescue specialty areas. What is swiftwater? The answer seems deceptively simple: water moving downhill. Yet, when water begins to move, it makes its own rules. The learning curve in swiftwater is steep and abrupt, and often there is no chance to retake the test. Many would-be rescuers have paid for this ignorance with their lives.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cfs Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0964958503
• ISBN 13: 9780964958500
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 243