VUCC Safety Policy - The Next Step

 

Introduction

In the last club newsletter a draft safety policy was published. In this issue, after referring to the NZ Canoe Association safety guidelines, I have increased the scope of the policy to ensure safety is not overlooked in the many decisions groups make on club trips.

With the departure of a number of experienced and capable paddlers, the club now relies increasing on an emerging group of intermediate paddlers for instruction, safety and rescue on the river. The club is light at the top. An experience and knowledge gap, of which safety is a part, is clearly emerging.

Moving forward, the club needs to address this gap. It has a legal and moral responsibility to do so.

A club safety policy will be a partial remedy and a crucial first step. The rest will need to come from better equipment, time on the water with more experienced paddlers, attending instruction, river rescue and first aid courses, attracting experienced paddlers to the club and developing new paddlers.

This is not a finalised policy and will undoubtedly require further revisions. There will be areas where the policy needs to be tailored to the club and areas where the club will need to raise its game and adopt new standards. To be effective, this policy also needs to be specific and not ambiguous. I seek your feedback on both these points (nicholas_smith@amp.co.nz or ph. 479 1930)

I aim to present a final copy to the committee for sign off by the end of September. I would also like to get a budget for the purchase of gear and safety equipment at this time.

It is expected all existing and new members to the club will comply with the safety policy.

 

Objectives

The objectives are clear and simple:

Legal and Moral Responsibility

A person with responsibility for others in the outdoors, has a moral obligation to provide them with a safe, enjoyable experience due to a high degree of care. Both society and participants expect this.

Duty of Care Owed

Legally, people (trip leaders and instructors) who take on responsibility for others (ie beginners) in the outdoors, are subject to civil and criminal liability under the Crimes Act 1961 and the Children and Young Persons Act 1974. Under this legislation, the Duty of Care owed to adults is governed by civil and criminal legislation and by sound common practice. While the nature of the care required will differ from that owed to children, the standard will not.

Group Responsibilities

Trip leader

Every club trip must have a trip leader. This does not necessarily have to be the organiser.

The trip leader's role is to ensure the safety of the whole group.

The trip leader is to be appointed by the trip organiser in enough time for the trip leader to ensure the trip is suitably planned and has enough experienced paddlers.

Having a trip leader is a fundamental part of keeping safe on the river. Even a group of paddlers of equal expertise operate more efficiently and safely if the are co-ordinated by a leader.

Responsibilities of Trip Leader

The trip leader is responsible for 6 key areas.

1) The trip is suitably planned

2) The party is suitably equipped

On a club trip every paddler shall have:

Instructors:

Party Gear:

Most of which is kept in a separate dry bag.

  • Throw bags with karabiner (no locking sleeve) - 1 per 5 paddlers (1:5)
  • Sling
  • Split paddles 1:5
  • Karabiners
  • First aid kits 1:5
  • Prussic loops
  • Spare clothing (hat, poly pros) 1:5
  • Fire lighting equipment 1:5
  • Bivvy bags 1:5
  • Spare food
  • Paddle hook or equivalent
  • Saw
  • Duct tape
  • Knife
 
  • Map of area

 

3) The party is using suitable boats

The boats taken on the trip should be of a suitable design to suit the trip and the conditions that it is possible to expect.

On beginner trips, instructors are to paddle boats that are capable of rescuing a swimmer on the back deck. For such trips, it may be necessary for instructors to paddle a larger boat.

Trip leaders should be aware on an instructors ability to get to a swimmer when they are paddling short boats. This is to be factored into the instructor beginner ratio.

4) All members of the party have a skill level sufficient to cope with the conditions likely to be encounted on the trip

Factors to take into consideration include; grade of paddler, recent paddling experience, familiarity with river, proven skill level, known to other paddlers on trip, reliability of river rolls and in what conditions, ability to catch eddies of varying sizes.

Before paddlers move up a river grade, they must be fully confident on water below that grade.

 

5) Adequate Number of Experienced Paddlers

There must an adequate number of experienced paddlers on a trip to buddy less experienced paddlers, carry out rescues of all kinds including first aid, resuscitation and CPR.

The trip leader shall keep a good safety margin between the skills of the learners and that of the instructors.

ie A Grade 2+ instructor who takes a group of beginners down a Grade 2 river may have trouble coping if something goes wrong. A Grade 4 paddler in the same situation however will have no trouble if an emergency arises.

Be aware and factor in, that some instructors may be having an off day.

 

6) Proper Group Management is Undertaken

The object of group management is to keep the group together so that help is available if trouble arises.

Group size

The minimum party size is 4. In the advent of an accident, two can go for help, while the other remains with the injured person.

It also often takes at least two boats to assist a swimmer and recover loose gear. Additional muscle is handy when a rescue is required.

If less than four people go on the river, it is not deemed a club trip.

Time

It is the trip leaders responsibility to ensure that the trip is started in plenty of time, particularly in winter, so that there is enough daylight hours to cope with the unexpected.

Allowances should be made for the season, collection of gear and paddlers, late arrivals, food stops, unfamiliar get ins, shuttles, briefings, group size, river instruction, experience of paddlers, playing, scouting, portaging, swimmers, rescues, boat recovery/extraction, hypothermia and accidents.

As a guide, add two hours to the expected trip time to allow for emergencies.

Briefings

To avoid misunderstandings on the river, formal briefings are to be given at the beginning of all beginner trips, trips where there are new paddlers to the group, new or difficult rivers, and flood conditions.

In less formal situations, a briefing of some kind is required, as it may not be clear who is responsible for what. Indeed, some members may have completely different views on their roles. Avoiding misunderstandings is often more difficult when paddling with a group of friends.

In both cases, the trip leader needs to make clear to all members of the group:

 

Buddies

The trip leader is to ensure everyone has a buddy before getting on the water, no matter the size, experience or organisation of the group. This is to ensure a paddlers absence in noticed immediately. (Adrian’s incident on the Hutt George is a case in point)

From this point on, as well as the normal responsibility for the other members of the team, each person is particularly responsible for the welfare of their buddy.

It is everyone’s responsibility to make sure their buddy is in sight and accompanied at all times. On no account should they be left behind on the river or bank.

If you have to leave the group for any reason (i.e. emptying boat, photo, toilet, etc), tell your buddy first so the party doesn’t have to stop and search for you later.

Everyone is to watch their buddy for signs of fear, hypothermia or excessive weariness. If their are any doubts, inform an instructor and the trip leader if possible.

If weaker paddlers in a group are feeling pushed, put them near the front of the group. This puts potential rescuers both up stream and down stream.

Regular counts of paddlers should be taken by the trip leader, as well as front and end paddlers.

If a boat is not in sight, those ahead must stop and wait. They must not continue into the next rapid until the missing paddler appears. If he/she fails to arrive after a short wait, head up stream to investigate.

 

Splitting into smaller groups

If the group is large it may be safer to work in small groups of 4 or more. The trip leader is to nominate subgroups and sub-leaders. Buddy up.

Split paddles, first aid kit and throw bags should be in every subgroup. If there is not enough equipment for all groups, then the last group should carry it.

The designated end paddlers are to paddle is the last subgroup.

 

Lead and End Paddlers

The trip leader before getting on the river, is to appoint experienced paddlers to the front and rear of the group.

The lead paddler has the following responsibilities:

The lead paddler must move at a speed that makes them visible to paddlers behind. They are to avoid small eddies which would hold only their boat, possibly leaving an inexperienced paddler to cope alone.

No one passes the lead boat.

It is recommended on easier/suitable sections of the river that other paddlers have a turn out front as part of their paddling development.

The end paddlers need to be a very experienced and equipped to deal with rescues of all kinds. These paddlers are commonly out of sight of others and if in trouble, will experience the greatest time lag before help arrives.

Two people are to take on this role, frequently changing places as back marker. That way they act as a team within a team - the buddy system.

The end paddlers are to be the last down at all times.

General

Scouting

When in doubt - scout. Inspect any rapid that you can’t see down - never run anything blind.

Scouting should be actively done on beginner trips to explain features and lines and instil the scouting habit.

When considering to run a rapid consider the remoteness of the location and the availability and quality of immediate help.

The trip leader will need to decide what level of bank protection is required (i.e. throw bags).

For each rapid the trip leader must consider the consequences of a swim and the implications this has on the swimmer, rescuers and the rest of the group. Look at the whole picture before committing yourself to a rapid.

 

Hypothermia

All paddlers are to be made aware of the risks of hypothermia in the briefing.

They need to make sure that they are adequately protected from the cold and wind. They also need to be aware that the party should be equipped with extra clothing, spare food and survival bags.

If a paddler is feeling very cold, take action to get off the river before the paddler starts making dangerous mistakes. In the early stages, in it’s mildest form, hypothermia can drastically affect a person’s judgement.

Early warnings of hypothermia are:

The following preventative action should be taken on all trips:

  1. Avoid taking long swims by careful scouting, thorough assessment of the risks involved and skilful paddling.
  2. Maintain a suitable level of personal fitness.
  3. Eat well before and during a river trip. Complex carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, cereals provide energy in a form that is made available to your body at a steady rate and over several hours.
  4. Wear suitable clothing for the type conditions and type of paddling.
  5. Buddy up and keep an eye on each other for the early signs of hypothermia (see above).
  6. Be prepared to shorten a trip if members of the party show signs of getting too cold.
  7. If one member of the party is suffering from hypothermia, there is a good chance that the conditions that affected them are effecting everyone else. Take action to protect the team as well as the victim.

If the easiest way to evacuate a paddler from a remote location is to continue paddling, they should be made to rest and eat for as long as practicable before setting off.

Flooded Rivers

No beginners on flooded rivers. Flooded is defined as higher than the normal river level. If the river level is at the high end of normal flow and there has been recent rain or heavy rain is imminent, beginners are not to go on the river.

Paddlers who chose to paddle flooded rivers must be very competent (grade 4) and know the river well. You must have first class river reading skills and a bombproof roll.

Paddlers must realise that flooded rivers are an extremely high risk and if you swim, you are on your own. Flood conditions inhibit rescue from other paddlers and you will be moving too fast for bank based rescuers to keep a foot hold. If rescuers do get a line to you, the current will be too powerful for you to hold on.

Emergencies

The trip leader is to:

  1. stop the group
  2. deal with emergency
  3. assign each person (or subgroup) a task
  4. don’t send or leave people on their own
  5. If you have to stop overnight

 

Cancelling a Trip

If the trip leader has concerns in any of the four major areas - 1) people, 2) environment, 3) resources/equipment, and 4) the activity, it may be prudent and necessary to cancel the trip at any time.

The distance driven, effort required to get to the put in, trip money, enthusiasm of expert boaters, unloading of gear and other so called "material" considerations are no excuse to overrun the concerns and decisions of the trip leader.

Guidelines for Beginners and Group Members

  1. Turn up on time - with all your equipment and food.
  2. Listen to the trip leader, she or he wants to enjoy the trip too.
  3. Follow the instructions given. If you don’t understand them - ask!
  4. If you don’t agree, say so - but once an agreement has been reached, stick to it whatever your personal opinion. In disputes, the trip leader has the final decision.
  5. Keep your buddy in sight at all times. Never go off on your own.
  6. Don’t tackle difficult rapids on the assumption that someone will rescue you. Obtain your buddy/group’s consent or don’t do it. More rescuers have drowned than novices.
  7. Be prepared to go to the assistance of other paddlers.
  8. If your are scared - say so. Any competent paddler will think the better of you for it.
  9. Remember that you are responsible both for yourself and for the other members of your group.
  10. Remember the trip leader has accepted responsibility for the safety of the whole group.

 

Nicholas Smith

Club Safety Officer