Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Archives
Categories
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 09, 2005 11:04 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Oct 09, 2005 11:04 PM
I took a swing at a cop!
I have always wanted to take a swing at a cop and
I finally got a chance this week. This week a few of us at work took a
swiftwater rescue class put on by Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Department Search and Rescue. We are all now
official Swiftwater Rescue Technicians (Class 1). Day one of the three day class
took place at Metro's SAR headquarters at North Las Vegas Airport. It was a
typical classroom day and most of the students were local cops, firefighters,
several of us Water Authority people and a handful of EMTs and river guides.
Besides classroom work, we did a bit of knot work which I have always struggled
with despite being an Eagle Scout. Luckily, Metro SAR uses only a few standard
knots mostly based on figure-8 knots which are fairly easy to learn.
The next day, we started playing in the water. We drove down to Big Bend State Park on the Colorado River south of Laughlin and spend two days learning the skills to safely rescue people in a swiftwater or flood situation. We practiced with throw bags (nylon bags with a float containing a 70 foot length of rope). The first throw with a throw bag it is pretty easy to get an accurate throw; however, the second throw is difficult because you have to rapidly coil the rope and get your second throw off accurately within 20 seconds. Of course, while we were on the bank of the river throwing, the other half of the class had to jump in and get carried by the current past us. That was one of the most fun parts of the class — just leaping into a frigid, rapidly flowing river. It's not something I would normally do. Of course, we were wearing wet-suits (the water was about 55°), helmets, and class V personal floatation device (PFD). The helmet was handy. One of the times I was a victim in the throw bag exercise, someone had a very accurate throw hitting me in the head with the bag. The helmet worked!
We also practiced lifesaving techniques. One of the very important rules of water rescue is not to go into the water unless you have to. They taught the same priorities that I learned in Scouts: Reach, Throw, Row, and Go. Although Go is the last thing you want to do, it requires practice. And since victims will often panic and try to climb on you, you have to learn to avoid that danger. That's when I got to take a swing at a Metro cop. He then dunked me, got behind me and rescued me. Another, very cool thing about this exercise was turning the tables and rescuing some big burly firemen. At one point, we had a free-for-all in shallow water practicing rescues. The instructors had people who had dive knives leave them on the beach just in it got ripped off in the struggle and lost in the water. Aaron and I had an epic battle. I was trying to rescue him, he kept trying the drown me. In frustration and fear of my agility, speed and power, he decided to crawl up the beach to get one of the knives. I had to grab his ankle and drag this this uncooperative victim back into the water.
We also practiced small boat rescues using oars and shore lines. I got to be IC (incident commander) during one of the exercises which was especially fun because I got to boss around The Man. We also worked on ropes (always put ropes across moving water at a diagonal because you can use the current to get to shore), anchor systems, mechanical advantage using pulleys, packing patients and leg entrapments.
The last couple exercises were very fun. We all swam out to an island in the river. After a few false stops (if you are stuck somewhere, please be patient for the SAR team to get the ropes right) we got a line from the island to shore. Then we used the current to pull us along the diagonal line back to the mainland. Then we put the line straight across the river (remember this is a no-no). With a couple of big PVC pipes, we had an artificial strainer. A strainer is an obstruction that allows water to flow through it but blocks larger objects. Examples include trees, logs, grates, or debris. Strainers are extremely dangerous because the water pin you against the strainer or even force you under. If you can see one coming you can try to swim over it or try to climb up on it. It is your only hope. I got three tries at the strainer. The first try was to try to get over it. I flipped from the safe, feet first, survival swim position onto my stomach and crawled easily over the strainer. The next two times I was supposed to get caught on the strainer and then try to climb over it. Wow. Both times the river slammed me into the strainers knocking the air out of my lungs, then literally folding me around the pipe with my face buried in foam. I managed both times to climb over the strainer but a few more seconds in that position I would have lost my strength and slipped under the strainer. The force of the water was incredible and I'll keep an eye out for strainers.
Although physically exhausting, this class was incredibly fun and I learned a lot. I learned not to take safety near moving water for granted and to be very careful around water. It also renewed my interest in perhaps volunteering for Metro SAR. I would like to get some more knot and rock climbing experience before I volunteer because the vast majority of the work they do is rescuing stranded climbers and hikers up at Red Rock. For some more info on the course I took and the Five Ways to Survive a Swiftwater Rescue, check out this link.
The next day, we started playing in the water. We drove down to Big Bend State Park on the Colorado River south of Laughlin and spend two days learning the skills to safely rescue people in a swiftwater or flood situation. We practiced with throw bags (nylon bags with a float containing a 70 foot length of rope). The first throw with a throw bag it is pretty easy to get an accurate throw; however, the second throw is difficult because you have to rapidly coil the rope and get your second throw off accurately within 20 seconds. Of course, while we were on the bank of the river throwing, the other half of the class had to jump in and get carried by the current past us. That was one of the most fun parts of the class — just leaping into a frigid, rapidly flowing river. It's not something I would normally do. Of course, we were wearing wet-suits (the water was about 55°), helmets, and class V personal floatation device (PFD). The helmet was handy. One of the times I was a victim in the throw bag exercise, someone had a very accurate throw hitting me in the head with the bag. The helmet worked!
We also practiced lifesaving techniques. One of the very important rules of water rescue is not to go into the water unless you have to. They taught the same priorities that I learned in Scouts: Reach, Throw, Row, and Go. Although Go is the last thing you want to do, it requires practice. And since victims will often panic and try to climb on you, you have to learn to avoid that danger. That's when I got to take a swing at a Metro cop. He then dunked me, got behind me and rescued me. Another, very cool thing about this exercise was turning the tables and rescuing some big burly firemen. At one point, we had a free-for-all in shallow water practicing rescues. The instructors had people who had dive knives leave them on the beach just in it got ripped off in the struggle and lost in the water. Aaron and I had an epic battle. I was trying to rescue him, he kept trying the drown me. In frustration and fear of my agility, speed and power, he decided to crawl up the beach to get one of the knives. I had to grab his ankle and drag this this uncooperative victim back into the water.
We also practiced small boat rescues using oars and shore lines. I got to be IC (incident commander) during one of the exercises which was especially fun because I got to boss around The Man. We also worked on ropes (always put ropes across moving water at a diagonal because you can use the current to get to shore), anchor systems, mechanical advantage using pulleys, packing patients and leg entrapments.
The last couple exercises were very fun. We all swam out to an island in the river. After a few false stops (if you are stuck somewhere, please be patient for the SAR team to get the ropes right) we got a line from the island to shore. Then we used the current to pull us along the diagonal line back to the mainland. Then we put the line straight across the river (remember this is a no-no). With a couple of big PVC pipes, we had an artificial strainer. A strainer is an obstruction that allows water to flow through it but blocks larger objects. Examples include trees, logs, grates, or debris. Strainers are extremely dangerous because the water pin you against the strainer or even force you under. If you can see one coming you can try to swim over it or try to climb up on it. It is your only hope. I got three tries at the strainer. The first try was to try to get over it. I flipped from the safe, feet first, survival swim position onto my stomach and crawled easily over the strainer. The next two times I was supposed to get caught on the strainer and then try to climb over it. Wow. Both times the river slammed me into the strainers knocking the air out of my lungs, then literally folding me around the pipe with my face buried in foam. I managed both times to climb over the strainer but a few more seconds in that position I would have lost my strength and slipped under the strainer. The force of the water was incredible and I'll keep an eye out for strainers.
Although physically exhausting, this class was incredibly fun and I learned a lot. I learned not to take safety near moving water for granted and to be very careful around water. It also renewed my interest in perhaps volunteering for Metro SAR. I would like to get some more knot and rock climbing experience before I volunteer because the vast majority of the work they do is rescuing stranded climbers and hikers up at Red Rock. For some more info on the course I took and the Five Ways to Survive a Swiftwater Rescue, check out this link.
Posted: Sun - October 9, 2005 at 10:33 PM