Re: [Paddlewise] All-In Rescues

At 07:17 AM 7/30/02 -0700, Shawn Baker wrote:
>John touched on a big key that I totally missed.
>
>Most rescues are solo or 2-person assisted rescues.  "All-in" implies a
>group rescue, where both the need and opportunity for leadership
>arises. This can make or break the situation.

When I have been involved in teaching beginners how to do assisted rescues 
we demonstrate the rescue and stress the importance of taking charge and 
maintaining a dialog throughout the rescue.  For example, approaching 
someone in the water that is panicking can put rescuer in jeopardy.  In 
very cold water, an ongoing dialog would make it much easier to evaluate 
whether the victim may be going hypothermic.  Once we've demonstrated the 
assisted rescue we have the students pair up.  As soon as the person 
capsizes, we tell the rescuer "you're in charge" and then just observe and 
let them learn from any mistakes.  After the victim is back in the boat and 
stable then we'll critique not only physically skill but how the rescue was 
managed verbally.
  

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