About half the people taking the Maine Guide test fail each year. The majority fail trying to solve the "lost person scenario". This is part of the oral review and the scenario changes. Typically you are the guide(or leader on a club outing)with a group of beginning kayakers. One kayaker is "lost". What do you do? Example: You are leading your group through a group of islands. The wind has freshened and due to varying abilities to cope with the conditions the group has gotten more spread out than you would like. While you are trying to get your group closer together you make a quick count and notice that your are one member short. You cannot see the person anywhere and there is no response to a shouted call or a whistle. What do you do? This is just one scenario. Others could include fog, rainstorm(squall), getting dark, etc. Comments? Dennis *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Lorraine&Dennis wrote: > > About half the people taking the Maine Guide test fail each year. The > majority fail trying to solve the "lost person scenario". [snip] > Example: You are leading your group [of beginning kayakers] > through a group of islands. The wind > has freshened and due to varying abilities to cope with the conditions the > group has gotten more spread out than you would like. While you are trying > to get your group closer together you make a quick count and notice that > your are one member short. You cannot see the person anywhere and there is > no response to a shouted call or a whistle. What do you do? Difficult problem. Designate the person among the beginners you trust the most to take charge of the rest of the herd -- and make him/her responsible for keeping the herd in a relatively sheltered or protected place -- ideally, ashore [see note below]. Charge them with building a fire, and with maintaining radio communications with you and your assistant leader. You and asst. leader do a hurried search for the lost person: one backtracks along the route just taken for fifteen minutes (and then returns to base); the other takes a similar route back, but shades downwind/current some, likewise for fifteen minutes (and then returns to base). If the lost one is not found, send out a Mayday call with particulars. *If conditions allow,* form the *just* the beginners who seem to have the skills to permit this into pairs and repeat the previous hasty search pattern, possibly somewhat enlarged, each duo to keep in sight of adjacent duos in the search fan. Ideally, each duo would have a radio. In any event, you should take one edge of the fan, and the asst leader the other, each maintaining radio contact. Leave beginners who do not have the skills to do this *on the beach.* This last part is the riskiest, having the potential to "lose" others, and would have to be monitored carefully. If this did not produce the lost person within half an hour (depending on conditions), the best bet is to return to the beach, enlarge that fire, and await SAR response (assuming radio contact with SAR resources was achieved). If no SAR response, then the group would have to await better conditions and search again from the same base. Not a happy scenario. Certainly a strong illustration that the asst leader should have been "bringing up the rear," to prevent it occurring. Other preventative measures would include prepping the beginners with materials and instructions on how to alert others if they become separated from the main group (flares, mainly). Note: if no beach is handy, response would have to be altered significantly, owing to having no safe harbor for the group to work from. The "base" then becomes whatever sheltered spot you established in the beginning, and a decision time must be identified beyond which the two searches can not extend -- to allow the remaining group members time to reach a safe destination. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
My web browser is acting awfully clunky (it's a Micro$oft), so I can't give you the precise URL, but if you go to the homepage of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (http://bst-tsb.gc.ca) and search under "kayaks" or for report number M93w008, you'll find an all-too-real variation of this scenario, with guides caught in just this sort of dilemma. Sobering reading, Philip T. At 08:18 AM 12/9/98 -0500, Dennis wrote: >About half the people taking the Maine Guide test fail each year. The >majority fail trying to solve the "lost person scenario". This is part of >the oral review and the scenario changes. Typically you are the guide(or >leader on a club outing)with a group of beginning kayakers. One kayaker is >"lost". What do you do? >Example: You are leading your group through a group of islands. The wind >has freshened and due to varying abilities to cope with the conditions the >group has gotten more spread out than you would like. While you are trying >to get your group closer together you make a quick count and notice that >your are one member short. You cannot see the person anywhere and there is >no response to a shouted call or a whistle. What do you do? >This is just one scenario. Others could include fog, rainstorm(squall), >getting dark, etc. >Comments? > >Dennis > **************************************** Mountain Equipment Co-op 1655 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 1K1 Tel: 640-732-1989 Fax: 604-731-6483 email: pid_at_mec.ca Visit our website at: http://www.mec.ca ***************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
The two reports I found are at: http://bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/reports/marine/earlier/em93w0008.html http://bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/reports/marine/1996/em96l0059.html -----Original Message----- From: Product Information Department <pid_at_mec.ca> To: Lorraine&Dennis <raisden_at_nh.ultranet.com> Cc: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Date: Wednesday, December 09, 1998 12:18 PM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Lost person scenario >My web browser is acting awfully clunky (it's a Micro$oft), so I can't give >you the precise URL, but if you go to the homepage of the Transportation >Safety Board of Canada (http://bst-tsb.gc.ca) and search under "kayaks" or >for report number M93w008, you'll find an all-too-real variation of this >scenario, with guides caught in just this sort of dilemma. > >Sobering reading, > >Philip T. > > >At 08:18 AM 12/9/98 -0500, Dennis wrote: >>About half the people taking the Maine Guide test fail each year. The >>majority fail trying to solve the "lost person scenario". This is part of >>the oral review and the scenario changes. Typically you are the guide(or >>leader on a club outing)with a group of beginning kayakers. One kayaker is >>"lost". What do you do? >>Example: You are leading your group through a group of islands. The wind >>has freshened and due to varying abilities to cope with the conditions the >>group has gotten more spread out than you would like. While you are trying >>to get your group closer together you make a quick count and notice that >>your are one member short. You cannot see the person anywhere and there is >>no response to a shouted call or a whistle. What do you do? >>This is just one scenario. Others could include fog, rainstorm(squall), >>getting dark, etc. >>Comments? >> >>Dennis >> > > >**************************************** >Mountain Equipment Co-op >1655 West 3rd Avenue, >Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 1K1 >Tel: 640-732-1989 >Fax: 604-731-6483 >email: pid_at_mec.ca > >Visit our website at: http://www.mec.ca >***************************************** >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Sobering reading, ----------------- Sobering, indeed! Without laying blame or assessing the state of the industry, I can sympathize somewhat with the leader when one thing after another started occurring. A few years ago I was at a snowshoeing workshop sponsored by the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. One of our evening activities was to simulate an accident scenerio. We broke into groups of 6-8 and each person was given a role to play. Guess who got to be leader. :-( One person fell down and broke her shoulder, another sat down and became hypothermic, a self proclaimed 1st aid specialist laid the first victim on the ground for treatment so she became hypothermic too, one assertive, macho, but inexperienced person demanded he be allowed to go immediately for help, a second nitwit insisted he go along, another person was whining and complaining and everyone was yapping in my ear. I was pretty close to panic and just about freaked out. In the review, I lost one person to hypothermia (the broken shoulder) and had another hospitalized before we were done. That's probably why I paddle alone for the most part. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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