Howdy all from the AW Safety Chair.

i wanted to start a thread on this topic. I have never had to rescue an unconscious swimmer. My discussions on this with others suggests, first, this is a frustratingly slow and difficult thing to do.

Second, the ways to do this that work are:
1. pulling the swimmer into a raft
2. jumping in the water, getting hands on the victim, and either swimming the patient in solo or getting a tow or rope throw from shore.
3. clipping to the swimmer with a PFD rescue tether and towing the victim

On this last point, Phil Dereimer shared a story with me--he clipped his tether into the victim's PFD at the shoulder in a pool below a rapid and towed him in.

I would be worried about pulling the PFD over the victim's head in turbulent whitewater with this shoulder clip. In calmer water, i could see this working pretty well. the victim's arms would tend to swing to the his sides and secure the PFD as you tow, rather than swinging overhead and letting the PFD slide off.

Other clip options:
clip to the victim's PFD rescue harness on the back. I could see clipping my tether biner to the victim's tow tether if he had one.

clip to a web belt if he has one. I think this would be solid, but it could create a lot of drag for the tow.

lasso the end of your tether and loop it around a wrist or around both ankles.

Please share your thoughts and stories. I plan to dig through the rescue archives and post any nuggets I find.

Cheers, Eric Nies

Rescuing unconscious swimmers would be something very good to practice occasionally. You don't have much time to figure it out if it happens.

In 1998, my friend Walt drowned on Dinkey Creek, just upstream of where I and another were getting ready to portage. When his body flushed free of the hole that drowned him it floated over a falls to us, recirculated briefly then floated across the pool towards the next drop. We had seconds to react, but Bill Russell, upstream next to the falls, threw a rope perfectly along the path of the body. I dove out, grabbed the rope and with in a stroke or so got Walt. I did not have time to do any clipping or anything, but did not think about it either. In retrospect, I might have been able to wrap the rope around his body and tie a knot or clip it or something. That would really be worth practicing.

Instead, I held the rope in one hand and my friend's body in the other. The rope went taught immediately and that twisted my body and arm around. I held his body in my left arm, I think and the rope in my right. I was able to hold on, but my right arm ended up twisted behind me in a sort of hammer lock while I desperately held on.

The rope swung us in, but not far enough to escape the current. We were just feet away from an eddy, but the current was cranking on my arm and I could only hold him. I couldn't get his face out of the water, and I couldn't look upstream to see what Bill was doing. I have never asked Bill whether he could have gotten us in or whether he was stuck just trying to hold us. I just remember looking at Walt with his head down in the water and thinking, "This isn't doing him any good."

I let go of the rope cause I couldn't feel any movement towards shore. I swam like a one armed scared madman towards that eddy and watched it slowly slip past. That was really scary, but on the other side of a boulder was one more eddy and we were close enough that I got into that one. If I had not made that, I would have let go and swam for my own life.

If I had wrapped the rope around him, under his arms I would have had both of my arms free and would have had more time to deal with things. I might have been able to swim him in or swam in myself and help Bill pull him in. Having the roped tied to the body would have given us more options at that point and made it a less dangerous situation. I would not have had to worry about us both going over Cherry Bomb.

Paul

Eric,

As a Red Cross certified life guard, going back over two decades, and current local chapter health and safety instructor....I would say your biggest concern with rescuing an unconscious swimmer, other than maintaining a clear airway, is being concerned about a possible neck or back injury.
Generally a swimmer is unconscious for one of two reasons: Lack of oxygen to the brain (ie they aspirated water and are technically dead), or severe blunt force trauma (rock impact) to the head or spinal area.
Now as I always tell students the airway comes first, its generally better to be paralyzed than dead. So get the airway open first and then worry about possible spinal injuries. But ideally you want to be doing both at the same time. Using your forearms along the breast bone and back of the swimmer while using your hands to cup the chin and back of the head. Using your hands and arms to provide spine and head immobilization.
As for swimming them in solo, we teach using a single arm cross chest carry. The rescuer approaches from behind the victim, wraps his arm under the arm pit of the victim and across their chest. The rescuer then uses the side stroke to swim him/herself into shore with the victim.
As for using a safety line. A safety line should NEVER be attached to an unconscious victim if at all possible (unless you are doing body recovery). Rather the rescuer attaches the safety/belay line to their quick release belt, and then grabs the victims PFD or body tightly from behind either wrapping their hands through the PFD shoulder straps or across the victim's chest. The rescuer then uses his/her body to block the water from pillowing up on the victim and maintains the victim's open airway.
Additionally using this system has some built in safeties: the victim can be let go if need be, and the rescuer can release themselves from the line if need be using their quick release.

Hope this helped.
Doug Davis

Edit- Just realized this thread was over two years old. Opps. How do I change to forum setting to list threads in forums with most recent first by date?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2009 07:39AM by Doug_Davis.

Hello Doug,

Topics such as this never go out of date, they just get neglected till someone feels like adding additional information. Hopefully people will discuss their personal experiences and experiments.

Maintaining an airway is obviously a high priority, but in my example, it simply was not possible while the victim was still in the river. I think that is not uncommon. In such cases the highest priority becomes getting the victim to shore, or at least out of the current, and out of danger of being swept downstream into further hazards. The airway can only be opened after the victim is on shore, or in a raft or some safe position.

Rescuing an unconscious person floating in a whitewater river has many unique and challenging aspects. I believe there are a few success stories and and a lot of failures.

Part of the problem is the unique qualities of a kayak. Kayakers can get to a victim faster than anybody else in many cases. However, once there we are more limited in what we can do. The kayaker has to keep paddling if the water is turbulent, so they do not have free hands. If the swimmer is conscious, they can grab onto the kayak and be quickly towed into shore. If they are unconscious the kayaker has to somehow grab onto them, and then continue paddling with both hands on the paddle to get the victim to shore.

There are examples of a kayaker exiting his craft in order to hang onto the victim and hold their head above water. This only makes sense if it is in calm water and shore is close or there are other boaters available to do the towing. If it is in whitewater, there would then be two victims in the water and they would not be able to keep the airway open anyway.

If a raft crew can get to an unconscious swimmer, then one person can quit paddling, reach over, pull the victim into the boat, and then work on opening the airway. The rafters have a stable platform to work from.

So the big questions in this topic are:
How can a kayaker tow an unconscious person to shore? If you are on shore (my case) or out of your boat, how can you get an unconscious swimmer out of whitewater while there is still time for it to matter? I think we are forced to consider various means of attaching lines to the victim. I don't think there is any way around it.

Paul

pmartzen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> So the big questions in this topic are:
> How can a kayaker tow an unconscious person to
> shore? If you are on shore (my case) or out of
> your boat, how can you get an unconscious swimmer
> out of whitewater while there is still time for it
> to matter? I think we are forced to consider
> various means of attaching lines to the victim. I
> don't think there is any way around it.
>
> Paul

A) Everything is always situationally dependent. There is no life guarding or SWR book that will cover every possible scenario. As instructors we teach you as much as we can and hope for the best.

B ) YOU, the rescuer, are always number 1 priority. If you cant rescue someone without keeping yourself safe, then they dont get rescued. Order of priority is You, Other bystanders and witnesses, and finally victim.

C) How can a kayaker tow an unconscious victim to shore? Well ideally they get out of there boat and swim the person in maintaining good head/spine stabilization with an open airway. Notice I said "ideally?"
Rapids to much to safely get out? Then clip a cow tail onto them connected to a quick release on a rescue PFD. Or hold on to the victim with one hand and paddle with the other. As I said everything is situationally dependent. Are you in the middle of a wilderness and if you loose your boat your stranded? Or are you in a river right next to a major thoroughfare, like the Ocoee? Do you have other people with you to assist? Do you have time to get into shore or an eddy, or are you about to go through another major rapid....and that unconscious swimmer being tied to you (even with a quick release) might endanger you?

D) How do you get an unconscious swimmer out from shore or in the water when out of your boat? I already explained that in my previous post, and your statement to the effect that there is no way around attaching a line to the victim is false. As I already stated you could easily attach a line to your own quick release on your rescue PFD, wade or swim out and grab the victim from behind through their PFD shoulder straps and someone else vectors the line with both of you attached into shore. Happens all the time in SWR classes or practice sessions. Or if you are going solo then you hold onto them until you can swim them and yourself into an eddy. Why would tying the line to the victim (and possibly causing them to submerge in the current as you are pulling them in) work any better than what I just described above? Only reason to do that is for simple body recovery.

I dont know what happened on the day of the accident you describe. I wasnt there. But it sounds to me like you are second guessing yourself and wondering if you could have done something different or faster. Dont. You did the best you could with what you had. Tying a line to him wouldnt have made things better and possibly would have made them worse. He flushed out of a rapid and you did the best you could. Dont beat yourself up and dont second guess it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2009 05:41AM by Doug_Davis.

Doug,

Thanks for bringing this topic back to life. It is a good one, I think.

I am trying to think how to answer you diplomatically and constructively. I feel like you assume that you are the instructor and I/we are the students. Yet you have no idea what our relative skill levels are. There are regular AW contributors who wrote the SWR books you refer to. You have stated your years of training and teaching. I have not. But couldn't you at least start by assuming that we are equals and that my experiences might have some validity?

One thing that I really like about kayaking is that we are frequently rescuing each other and being rescued. We get hands on practice on a regular basis. If we think about how those rescues went and how they can possibly be improved, then we get better, I think.

It seems to me that the SWR classes developed out of our real river rescue experiences. The SWR protocols should not over ride what actually happens in real life. SWR is a way to practice in a safer and more controlled environment what many of us have experienced in very unsafe and uncontrolled environments.

The accident that I described is in the AW database:
[americanwhitewater.org]

I offered it as my one experience in actually trying to get an unconscious swimmer to shore. I have "beat myself up" a fair amount over this accident, but not about the rescue. I do try to think what I might have done differently and what I might practice in the future.

I have performed a lot of rescues over the years in rivers, on rocks and in other situations. I would like to think that those experiences have some value and that my suggestions are worth considering.

So, how about we talk about our actual experiences. You can tell us how you teach this and how you yourself practice and I and others can describe what we actually did and and if we are practicing any differently now. But Please, Please Please, don't tell me how I am "Supposed" to do it.

Paul

Paul,

This will be the last time I reply to this thread. You seem to be taking this a bit personally, feel I am talking down to you in some way, and that I do not value any experience you may have. Believe me nothing could be further from the truth. For whatever reason the internet seems to be a horrible means at conveying intent and feeling, and forums such as these often lead to hurt feelings or misunderstandings. Since it seems that is the way this topic is headed and I have said my peace, I will instead simply bow out.

However one last note, as a Red Cross or ACA instructor I will always listen to the stories of my students, my peers or anyone else with practical experience/knowledge on a given topic. I am always looking to learn more, and will be the first to humbly admit I dont know everything. However as an instructor I will always teach and demonstrate to the standard and current curriculum as set by the governing bodies of those organizations, if you think that means I am telling you how you are "supposed" to do it, so be it.

Take care and safe journeys.

Doug,

I apologize for my rude response. Of course you must teach to the current standards and curriculum. Your input of those standards to this discussion is valuable.

The fact that you strongly disagreed with my thoughts about towing a swimmer has caused me to think further about my ideas and to do some searching of the AW accident database.

I went to the search page and at the accident search section, I typed in "unconscious" in the detailed description box. That brought up a pretty long list of accidents, most of which were labeled Fatal. I have only waded through a few so far, but it is very interesting reading even if many reports don't quite relate to this topic.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
This one is an example of where kayakers were unable to help their friend in turbulent water. A rafter was finally able to pull the swimmer out, though too late.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
This one describes a very unusual entrapment, but a kayaker provided rescue by exiting his boat and supporting the victim.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
This is another example that supports floating with the victim to keep their head out of the water.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
This accident shows the confusion that can occur and the difficulty in getting a swimmer to shore. Use of a tow line is considered.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
Another sad example of low head dams, but also showing the danger of tying into a line in swiftwater.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
A long report detailing many difficulties, including trying to rescue a swimmer while swimming oneself.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
A kayaker tows a swimmer to shore, probably using a tow rope system, though not stated explicitly.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
kayaker exits his boat to hold onto his unconscious friend and swim with him through a rapid before he can get the victim to shore.

[www.americanwhitewater.org]
Another example of the difficulties of kayakers rescuing swimmers in rapids.

There are plenty more as I have only gotten about a 3rd of the way through the list.

Paul

The reason for this is that an unconscious swimmer may have been in the water for some time already, and you may not be able to help them. For water rescues the rule of thumb is to treat those making the least noise first, and the unconscious last. Once you handle the unconscious casualty you won't have a chance to help the others. Mobilise the mobile.
===================
Organic Seo |Christian Seo

The link below is to a long forum discussion about a close call at the 2010 Gore Canyon race. The discussion is mostly very informative and constructive.

[www.mountainbuzz.com]

A paddler from a shredder raft, swam some major rapids, Gore, Scissors, and Pyrite. He was somehow overlooked or missed by shore based throw ropes and safety kayakers. One of the racers resting in an eddy, saw the swimmer, gave chase, then somehow got the unconscious swimmer to shore in a pool between rapids.

There are a number of fascinating sub discussions, such as:
The protocols of clearing c-spine injuries,
Tether towing swimmers yet still keeping they faces up out of the water. #58
cpr masks

Paul Martzen
California Stream Team