LCCC members John Maroney, Alyse Oxenford, Teresa Gryder, Chris Meinke and Bruce Eicher offer this opportunity for members* to practice and update their first aid and safety skills. There’s no charge, and no certification, just good old-fashioned community education.
John is a retired MD with many years of experience in the backcountry. Alyse is a DO student with EMT experience. Teresa is an ND with a decade of river guide experience. Chris and Bruce are experienced paddlers and LCCC Board members. Together this team will help you reactivate the knowledge you ought to have when you go on a wild river.
We will spent the morning practicing and talking about first aid for river incidents. In particular we’ll update our thinking about CPR and head injuries, and discuss methods for shoulder reduction—because shoulder dislocations are unfortunately common among whitewater paddlers. None of this counts as a first aid certification. We’re assuming you’ve learned CPR before, you’ve taken first aid before, and you’re interested in keeping your knowledge up to date. If you’ve never learned any of this stuff before you can come, but you may not get the foundation you need for it to all make sense.
At some point we’ll unpack Chris’ drybag and talk about what sorts of things you might want to carry in yours.
After lunch we’ll tie knots, throw ropes, swim in the river, and practice signalling. We’ll do some drills intended to help us develop a shared language for signaling on the water, and generally build our coherence as a crew. We’re not going downriver on this day, so you don’t need a boat.
Bring your drysuit, life jacket, helmet and river shoes, as well as your throwbag and whatever equipment you carry on the river. Dress to be comfortable outdoors all day, and bring plenty of water and whatever else you need to be happy!
Signups are in progress, with a few slots left as of May 7. Please email or otherwise contact Teresa Gryder (T4eresa at gmail) to get on the list. We will consider a repeat if there is a lot of demand.
*Members only!