Dealing with Sudden Death

posted July 14, 2009
by Charlie Walbridge

Sudden death is a charged emotional event, often compounded by trauma among those who witness a drowning accident or try to rescue or resuscitate someone. Few people realize how little time you have for a successful drowning rescue. The sad facts are that unless a drowning person is pulled out within 6-10 minutes of going under, their chances are almost zero. Anger or displaced anger towards rescue and recovery efforts are not unusual. Excellent Resources for managing sudden death grief and trauma can be found on the Higgins & Langley website. These pamphlets, created by the Royal Hospital Foundation in Belfast, Northern Island, can be downloaded as needed

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park Boating Beta

posted July 1, 2009
by Mark Singleton
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Keep this number for assistance in the Great Smoky Mountains Nation Park - (865) 436-1230. This number connects to the Park Dispatch Office and should be used in non-emergency situations. For boaters who regularly paddle in the Park it is advisable to program the number in your cell phone.

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Guided Rafting Accident Statistics

posted September 4, 2007
by David Brown
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A CNN story on whitewater rafting deaths published in September 2006, which can still be found on the Web, omits the fact that most of the fatalities cited by the article did not occur on commercial raft trips, said to David Brown, Executive Director of America Outdoors (AO). America Outdoors is a national association of outfitters, which includes many whitewater rafting companies. The story cites 50 whitewater deaths and infers that they were on commercial rafting trips due to lax state regulation. Brown says his data shows 10 fatalities on guided, commercial raft trips in 2006. None of the deaths on commercial trips were the result of a customer not wearing a life jacket. Of the eight rafting deaths cited in Oregon by CNN, none were on a commercially guided trip.
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A Primer on Critical Incident Stress

posted February 10, 2006
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Strainers, Large Woody Debris, Removal, and Ecology

posted January 7, 2002
by Jason Robertson
Strainers, filters, sweepers, log sieves, log jams, do you have a chill running down your spine yet? Logs are generally disliked by boaters; their importance to the ecosystem is completely misunderstood; they are removed whenever possible; and if one is ever implicated in the injury or death of a human it is ceremoniously destroyed. Here are some considerations to think about before removing a log for safety, or prior to placing one in the stream for fish habitat.
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