White Water Rescue Technician

The WRT-REC course is for recreational paddlers who wish to have a rescue capability whilst paddling or in a whitewater environment with their peers, eg kayak club members, informal non-paying paddlers completing a river trip.

Course length

12 hours (2 days)

Course content includes

• Rescue 3 philosophy
• Training standards
• River hydrology and hazards
• Personal equipment
• Technical and group equipment
• Pre-trip planning
• Risk assessments
• Incident size-up
• Incident management and site control
• Medical considerations
• Night/poor visibility considerations
• Search considerations
• Communications
• Whitewater swimming techniques
• Strainer swim
• Conditional rescues – throwbags
• Shallow water techniques
• People and equipment entrapments
• True/contact rescues - untethered
• True/contact rescues - tethered
• Line crossing methods
• Diagonals/zip lines
• Flips and capsizes
• Boat wraps
• Victim/casualty management
• Knots and anchor systems
• Vector pulls
• Introduction to mechanical advantage

Prerequisites

• Confident swimmer, with experience of water-based activities (rafting, canoeing, canyoning, sea level traversing etc)
• Minimum age: 18

Taught by

• Whitewater Rescue Technician Instructor