L3 Safety & Rescue Skills Course Report

L3 Safety and Rescue Skills Course, 7-24-21

Location: Campbell’s Falls, Cape Fear River, Erwin NC

It was hosted by Cape Fear River Adventures but taught by 4 CCC instructors to mostly CCC members.

We had 16 Students with 14 being paddlers of all experience levels and 2 Firemen from the local FD SWR Squad.

I believe we now have 20 better trained paddlers/rescuers in our state. I say 20 because us instructors are always learning as well even though we are the ones teaching. The students learned that just because it is a Class II rapid does not mean it is easy to work with. For anyone who is not familiar with Campbell’s falls it is a great location and one that I personally frequent quite a bit for skills practice and combat roll practice as it has a very nice and strong channel. This is a location that I believe every single student would have paddled down with no issues and never thought twice about it as it just has a defined little wave train. I am fairly confident that all have a very different view of that little straight forward Class II now that they have felt the power of that water on their bodies for a full day. For all you “veteran” CCC members we even had a surprise visit from Rescue Randy who decided to come out of retirement and help with the Unresponsive Paddler Rescue (Hand of God) and allowed us to use his beater Karma to conduct boat pins with. For anyone who doesn’t know Randy, this guy is awesome, he plays unresponsive victim very well and can hold his breath forever, making him great for the Unresponsive Paddler Rescue and he never complained once, even when I crammed him back in the back seat of my truck. The bulk of the course focused on Swimming, Wading, and throwing ropes with many little classes mixed in. Although there is never enough time to fit everything in on 1 day I do believe we were able to get a majority of it covered and ensure everyone was able to get some great swims, plenty of wading, and throw multiple types of ropes to feel the difference.

For all those who have not taken a L3 Safety and Rescue class, watch for more in the future! For all those who have, don’t forget to practice those skills, they are perishable skills.