Re: [Paddlewise] Kayakers helping others

----- Original Message From: Peter Treby
In the event, we weren't much real help. I have wondered since then, what
could we have done to best help a seriously injured suicide attempt victim
if we had found him or her in the water. Getting an injured person out of
the water onto rafted up boats would be a real challenge. Has anyone had any
experience of this?-----

It is funny you should ask about kayakers helping jumpers just this week.
Last Saturday an ACA Instructor Certification Workshop group from California
Canoe and Kayak was at the South Tower of the Golden Gate when a jumper
landed about 25 feet from them. They said it was difficult to pull the
injured young man with no shirt up onto their decks because he was so floppy
from internal injuries and unconscious. He expired on the front decks of
three kayaks while others in the group pulled them to shore with in-line
towing. They were fortunate to have so many skilled paddlers available to
help. Although everyone dealt with the physical aspects very well there were
emotional repercussions that will take some time to work through.

On a lighter note, in regards to kayakers helping others, as guides and
instructors our first aid kits have come in handy for other beach goers. One
group I was with in Washington, helped a yacht untangle a prop from some old
line, I guess the knife is good for something other than making sandwiches.
One group Roger was with towed a disabled skiff to shore once in Big Sur.
Roger has helped a surfer with a broken board at Steamers in Santa Cruz. Two
Miramar paddlers rescued a man from a fishing skiff accident near Half Moon
Bay, CA. In the last two cases, the back deck swimmer method was employed.
Last time we drove through the L.A. area I noticed a rescue vehicle with an
open deck kayak strapped on top with some kind of rescue insignia on it.

On the other thread, saw a guy with a dog (white short hair terrier, maybe
15-20 pounds) on a piece of rug foam (the kind that you put under an area
rug to keep it from sliding around on a hard wood floor) on the front deck
of a Mariner last week at Angel Island. For the crossing back in Raccoon
Straits on a 2 knot ebb on Opening Day on the Bay, I noticed that he put the
dog into his PFD and zipped up. Has anyone practiced rescues with their dog
and their kayak yet?

Best wishes,
Jan Shriner


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