Rescue Technician - Swiftwater Rescue Technician

Instructional Hours: 51.00

Course Objective: To provide students with the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to function as part of an integrated rescue team to extricate victims from swiftwater and flood conditions.

Course Description: Major topics covered in the course are water hydrology, pre-incident planning, incident size up, incident management, safety, communications, victim rescue, surface watercraft, various in-water drills, par buckling, low-head dam phenomenon, swiftwater operations, pre-incident planning, incident management, hazard mitigation, mechanical advantage rope rescue systems, highline rescue systems, mock night search, and other advanced rope rescue skills. Methods of instruction include lecture, discussion, online learning activities and team-focused practical exercises.

Successful Completion: Students must attend required classroom sessions, complete homework assignments, demonstrate proficiency in the practical skills evolutions and obtain a score of 70% or better on the final written and practical examinations. This course partially satisfies the professional certification requirements for Surface Water and Swiftwater Technical Rescuer I and II.

Prerequisites

Personal Protective Equipment and SCBA (FIRE 099), Protective Envelope and Foam (FIRE 102), Pre-Emergency Response Training (FIRE 103), Firefighter I (FIRE 101) or equivalent AND Rescue Technician - Site Operations (RES-101) or equivalent. .

Participants should be able to swim 100 yards without stopping or using a flotation device and be able to tread water for 5 minutes without using a flotation device.