from Boof.com Last edited by dansadowski; 09-23-2010 at 07:50 PM

---

 

 

Posted by: "Sean Norman" fcpnorman@yahoo.com 

From the SwiftH2O Yahoo Groups Chat room

 

Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:32 pm (PDT) 

 

A kayaker(inflatable) was killed yesterday in Plumas County on the North Fork of the Feather River. Yesterday was a scheduled release day with about 900-1000 cfs flowing in the river. The victim was with a group of kaykers and had a swim from her boat. This particular run is class III- IV that has some technical boulder gardens. 

 

The incident was in Plumas County and we were requested as mutual aid. I did not speak with anyone from her particular boating group. The report I was given was that she had a swim and became trapped up against a large boulder, with a smaller partially submerged rock adjacent to the large rock. Witnesses told me that her paddle was sticking straight up in the air, and her body was wedged between the two rocks and paddle. They felt that possibly her paddle had played a role in her becoming foot or body entrapped. 

 

After a period of time other boaters were able to free her from the river. When we arrived( 50 minutes +) CPR was being performed on the other side of the river. We deployed our raft to paddle across the river and eddy hop to where the incident was located. A paramedic from the local ambulance service out of Quincy had been towed across by holding onto the back of a kayak. He had ceased resuscitation. We packaged her up and transported her across the river. There were several people who are affiliated with American Whitewater there who were going to follow up on the details of the accident.

 

The large boulder appeared to create a small pillow of water with a partially submerged rock obstructing the passage on river left of the boulder. There did appear to be a small space between the two rocks where an entrapment could take place.The initial request to our agency was for two engine companies- neither of which were trained as techs. We augmented the response with a battalion chief( a rescue team leader) and myself from our water rescue station. That gave us 10 personnel there with the Plumas County SAR team. Only the BC and I( from our agency) were techs. We were able to locate an AW representative that I knew and he recommended another private boater that helped us boat crew during the recovery. The coordination between the private boaters and fire service personnel was easy and without incident.The victim was transported to highway side and we returned to bring the paramedic and his gear back across.

 

We have been slowly implementing new standardized water rescue curriculum throughout our department( CAL FIRE has nearly 6000 personnel). The First Responder class was rolled out this year and has been taught at our academy and throughout our department. In Butte County we put out a DVD as a supplement the the formalized class. The DVD was focused on shore based rescuer roles and responsibilities . The DVD plays as an actual incident and through each segment of the incident the DVD pauses to emphasize topics such as; ICS, PPE, shore based rescue skills, and integration with the rescue team. 

 

We have had several incidents this year and in each case the engine company officer expressed the confidence they had when approaching the scene, based on the recent training they had been given. For me I was happy to arrive and find an upstream spotter and DSS set up( all in the correct PPE). I guess all our work pays off.

 

Sean Norman

CAL FIRE/ BCFD

Butte County

 

From Mountainbuzz

Kayaker drowns in the Feather River

Suzie K., who I've known since I first started kayaking in '96 as a coworker and friend that I've lost contact with as of lately, has passed away apparently due to foot entrapment this past weekend while kayaking. From the limited news reports & nothing so far over at AW, it appears a valiant effort was put forward by those with her to attempt to resuscitate her.

Suzie was a great person who I had the pleasure of working with in the western Sierras as foresters for PG&E, as well as in the Lake Tahoe Basin for Sierra Pacific Power Co. Long since I left Tahoe, I know Suzie continued working for various agencies helping to keep Tahoe Blue by keeping the Trees Green, as well as working on several fire crews. Although, I never knew her as a kayaker (hence not knowing her skill level on the river), I know she loved the Sierras, therefore it comes as no surprise, albeit unfortunate, to hear she was paddling in the beautiful Feather River.

We can all be assured, whether there was some white-knuckled moments or not, Suzie would have always been smiling from ear to ear being on the water and in the mountains she loved. My thoughts and condolences go to her family and friends, as she will be greatly missed.