Larry’s Paddler Tips (#3)

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Emergency Contacts

If you are incapacitated on the river/lake/ocean, can the people in your group contact your emergency contacts? How will/do they know? In a more formal tripping environment, group emergency contacts and float plans may be generated and available but more frequently in our impromptu pickup groups and trips, this info isn’t commonly gathered.

Emergencies like this do occur in paddling and they have occurred to us. It makes things more difficult on the rescuers, first responders, law enforcement and the families. Figure out a way to help people help you.
In my case, I made “Road ID” tags (popularized by bicyclists) for myself that I’ve attached to the shoulder strap of both my whitewater and coastal-paddling pfds. It’s a fairly easy task finding these custom engravable tags or even aluminum cards that could be stowed in pfd pockets these days for under $20. That’s a lot of peace of mind if, or when the time comes when you need it.

4 Comments on “Larry’s Paddler Tips (#3)”

  2. Jeffrey,
    The Coast Guard still hands them out and many members in the club have extras to hand out however those are more for lost boats. The ID tag Larry is talking about is more of a “In Case of emergency contact this person” type of information that should be on the paddler at all times and ideally on the PFD as the one piece of equipment that should be worn at all times. I personally wouldn’t want my next of kin or address on my boat. My orange “if found please contact” sticker contains my name and phone number only. Both are very good things to have though and all paddlers should consider them both if they do not already have them.

  3. I order the same tags that people put on pets. I wired one to my life jacket and a second to the hip pack that I use when hiking.