Slim Ray | Les Bechdel
1 Read This to Get a Feel For the River
This manual contains an abundance of real-life scenarios that give the reader a "feel" for the river. It shows by one example after another how complex the swiftwater rescue problem can become, and how sophisticated the rescue solution ought to be. The reader is challenged over and over to think things through and learn how to respond properly to various situations.
Although this book is not designed to serve as the primary instructional text for swiftwater rescue training, it should be required reading for such a program, and can be used as an adjunct to any swiftwater rescue curriculum
2 Whitewater Must
I picked up this book two weeks after I went on my first whitewater rafting trip because there was so much I didn't know about the river. This book gave me a great introduction to what the river is capable of and what to do if something goes wrong. If you travel the river, you should read this book or something of its quality. The book covers rescue equipment and rescue procedures and operations very well. Little did I know that a few months after I read this book I'd be on the Ottawa River and use these techniques to possibly save my life or serious injury. If it wasn't for this book and what I learned in it, I may have been seriously hurt on the McCoy Rapids. I don't know what I would have done without this book and I'm glad I didn't have to find out. If you whitewater kayak, canoe or raft, get this book or "Swiftwater Rescue". It may just save your life one day, hopefully you'll never need it. It's better to have the knowledge and not use it then to need it and not have it.
This book covers the basics of river rescue. It's not really an in depth book. You would definately benefit from a book about technical rope rescue. This book shows briefly how to make some rope rescue systems, but that's not really its strength. Some sort of first aid/emergency care manual and/or training should accompany this book because they go hand-in-hand.
3 If you paddle read this book!
This book is a neccessity for anyone who is a river runner! It not only covers rescue techniques from the gurus of whitewater rescue, Les Bechdel and Slim Ray, but it also covers ways that one can prevent an accident from happening in the first place.
