| Description: | Here is a report from a close call I've been aware of :
Mr Stephane Hamel, from Mirabel, Québec, Canada, is an experienced OC2 (>30yrs paddling), but new to OC1 paddler. This was one of his first outings in a solo boat, September 12th, 2009, on the Canyon section of the Rivière Rouge in Québec, Canada - a class III section of a river he knew well, at low flow conditions (40 m3/s = 1400 cfs).
He got a double fracture of the leg (tibia and fibula) from a foot entrapment on the first drop of the section, a rocky class III. He was wearing a PFD and was well aware of usual safety measures, including how to safely swim a rapid. He unexpectedly flipped eddying out, could not roll, and got his left foot stuck in between rocks just as he bailed out. Fortunately his foot was immediately released after being fractured. Stephane performed himself (ouch!) on the shore a temporary closed reduction as his foot was badly out of anatomic position. Evacuation out of the river to the nearest hospital was swift, as the put-in is a short flat section upstream of that rapid, and he was part of an experienced and resourceful team.
This situation could have been catastrophic would his foot not have been released from the riverbed, with potential for drowning and difficult rescue conditions.
Shallow rivers pose specific problems, as proximity of the riverbed threatens the shoulders of a rolling paddler and the limbs of a swimming one - especially like in this case during the short while before the swimmer can move into a safe, feet up position.
Also, OC1 requires specific skills - frequent need to be on one's offside, ability to roll, paddling a slower and less stable boat - that good water reading and whitewater experience in OC2 cannot quite compensate for.
Feel free to contact me if you need any more info. Thank you for collecting this data. I always learn something from the column. Keeps me humbler on the river - and for sure safer.
Martin Talbot
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