Our awareness course involved a few hours theory where whitewater terminology, personal survival and rescue techniques were all explained. Soon enough we hit the water. Nerves soon gave way to excitement as practiced a few defensive and offensive swimming techniques. With the basics complete we did a few laps of the course, we simply bobbed up and down in the whitewater like floating buoys.
With little time to rest we undertook further rescue techniques like human triangles for negotiating swollen creeks and rope recoveries, these both proved to be fun and hard work. Our afternoon activities involved more recoveries and dealing with strainers. A strainer is a partially submerged log or shopping trolley that traps victims while allowing water past…. After getting a demonstration on how to negotiate a strainer it was then our then. One of our team members got it all wrong and came nursing a bloody nose. “That’s not how to do it” was his words as he was lead off for some first aid.
Our final activity for the day was to have a bit of fun in the inflatable rafts. Using 2 rafts we had a few laps of the course, each time adding a bit more fun and excitement into the adventure. As always, when more risk is added it ultimately ends in a big crash and on our last lap we had a big crash. All of us were ejected from the raft, once in the calmness of an eddy we regained our composure and seats before finishing the course.
What a great day, I wish all SES courses were like this one.
1 comment:
Now that sounds like fun!!! Maybe even more fun than the 12hr bike race around the edge of the course that was held a few weeks back.
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