Re: [Paddlewise] Club Safety

> From: Sarah M Ohmann <ohman001_at_maroon.tc.umn.edu>

> Hi Folks-
> 
> I have been thinking about Richard Culpeper's post on club
> safety and trip leadership for the last few days.  Our club (Twin
> Cities Sea Kayaking Club- Minneapolis) is also grappling with the same
> issues raised, partly due to the fact that in the last three years our 
> club has grown from five people who knew each other pretty well to about
> sixty (I think membership just about doubled last year). While some of
> these points have been discussed in a general way during the last few
> weeks, I would like to hear specifically from members of other clubs on
> how they have dealt with the following questions-
> 
> Are trip leaders for your club strictly organizers or are they expected to
> be responsible for safety of participants?  What are their
> responsibilities in the event of an emergency?

So that no one got the impression that one single person was responsible 
for everyone's safety, my club changed the title from trip leader to trip
coordinator. 

> What, if any, are the requirements in terms of skills, training or
> certifications for trip leaders?  For participants? 

Willingness to coordinate a trip and attend.  :-)

> Does your club have any sort of process for approving trips or trip
> leaders?

Since we did not have trip "leaders" ... no.  If someone was willing
to organize a trip, everyone said "YIPPEEE!"  But we were an informal
lot :-)  The club membership was good size, however the actual participation 
was usually relatively small.  Some "popular" trips would be limited to a
number that the coordinator felt most comfortable with.

> Do you have trip ratings such as beginning, intermediate and advanced?  If
> so, how do you define the different ratings?  

As the club grew into a sea of unfamiliar faces, most club events began
to be of a beginner's level.  This gave everyone a chance to meet, get to
know each other and become more familiar with the skills (or lack) of the 
new paddlers.  Challenging trips were private events.  

<snip>

> Our club is incorporated, we do have a liability waiver (for what it's
> worth) and since we are a chapter of the ACA (American Canoe Association)
> our trips are covered by their liability insurance. But some are
> concerned that we have not covered our butts legally, and that safety
> rules may be required for this reason in addition to ensuring the safety
> of our club members.  Is there any information on this, maybe from clubs
> who do other activities such as ww kayaking or mountaineering?
>  
> Personally, I worry that too much obsessing about liability will result
> in no club activities at all.  But then, I have no good information on how
> much of a concern lawsuits should be.  Are there any examples of clubs or
> club members being sued?  Are there any cases of club activities resulting
> in fatalities in sea kayaking?  I sincerely hope the answer to these
> question is "no"!

I think this is a real possibility.  This fear, founded or not, tends to grow 
as the club expands with unfamiliar faces.  When you are with your long-time
friends, law suits are not part of the "fun equation."  When I first joined 
my club, the only requirement for trip coordinator/organizer was a 
willingness to put it together.  Then the more the club grew and the more 
we began to talk about waivers, law suits, ACA insurance (I don't know if 
it was ever determined if non-ACA club members and visitors were covered 
by ACA) the less members seemed to be willing to host a trip.  

But none of us had any information about anyone being sued because of
an incident on a club outing.  I still have not heard of a paddling club
being sued.  This has been discussed on rec.boats.paddle, numerous
listservers, and all anyone seems to have are ninth, maybe tenth-hand 
information... maybe ("Well.. I heard someone mention that over in another
state someone had heard that there used to be a club where someone 
supposedly...").  

I think safety awareness classes, videos, books for the club library, club 
presentations are just plain good moves on the part of a club for its 
community.  Especially stressing the individual's responsibilty for their 
own safety.  Not because of the liability issue, but just because passing 
on information and knowledge and experience is always a good thing.  One 
of the nice benefits of a club *is* its numbers.  With large groups, you 
can get together and organize a major class in swift-water rescue where 
you can bring in experts (which we did), safety and paddling seminars and
workshops, CPR classes, expert instructor lessons, etc.

I would guess most if not all clubs at some point ponder and even struggle
over these issues.  It's part of the growth, I think.   But it's the 
growth that can get you to some pretty neat places... more new paddling
buddies, new learning opportunities, new trips, new insights, and really 
big pot luck Christmases. :-) 

Cheers,

Jackie
                     The Club Rolling Contest            
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   ~~ ~  ~           \ ^      ~ ~~  ~            \_\
                     ( .7
                      ~"

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