Live Bait Rescues
Live bait rescues are increasingly being used for preemptive creek boating safety. As the kayaking community saw last year in the Green River Race, a boater was knocked unconscious in Gorilla Falls, rescuers were then able to pull the unconscious boater to shore within seconds without endangering themselves using the L.B rescue. This rescue technique can also be used to access pinned boats and injured boaters who cannot perform self rescue to shore.
What you need: Rescue PFD w/releasable tether, throw bag, on shore belayer and back up partner to hold belayer. Most importantly Practice, Practice,Practice!!!!
4 comments:
Live Bait to the Rescue. Had the chance to use a live bait rescue on the waterfalls above South Mineral campground. Sticky log situation, where the only way to get to the pinned kayaker was to use a live bait rescue. Worked well! Fortunatly we had all the gear and some competent help. Moral of the story... Don't forget your lifejacket, helmet (wrsi), throw bag, and good shoes.... Even if you are just taking pictures!
I cringed at the rough handling of the unconscious paddler, among other things being dragged to shore by his helmet. If he had a spinal cord injury he might now be paralyzed!
spinal is not the first concern is he has a compromised airway then that is going to kill him long before you screw his neck/back up
airway first all the time getting his head out of the water was the priority
As an experienced ER nurse, I concur that airway comes before all else, but that doesn't mean you should ignore everything else. Having not been there, I cannot judge their actions, so I won't. That said, I think it is always appropriate to be mindful of cervical and other injuries while extracating from a kayak and/or fast moving water while supporting the airway.
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