River Dog Rescue & Medical Training
Coming spring 2025, River Dog Outfitters will be offering River Rescue and Wilderness First Aid certification courses through Sierra Rescue International.
One of the best things about teaching Sierra Rescue’s curriculum is our ability to cater to various groups. The River Rescue Course (RRC) isn’t like typical Swiftwater Rescue classes hosted by fire departments, we give hands on training for river users to be resourceful and effective with their equipment. Whether whitewater kayakers, fishing guides in a drift boat, or surveyors wading, we will apply the training to your most likely scenarios. Same goes for our Wilderness First Aid courses. Not only will you receive foundational skills in basic first aid and CPR, you will also learn strategies to deal with scenarios your group is most likely to come across in a wilderness setting.
Swift Water Rescue Courses for Guides, Kayakers and Private Boaters
River Rescue Certification (RRC):
Training designed for all river users, whether commercial river guides in drift boats or private boaters in kayaks, rafts, SUPs, pack rafts, you name it! With an emphasis on rescue skill development we get very hands on and train in the river using equipment related to each groups discipline. We role play through realistic scenarios and discuss not only the rescue itself, but also hazard identification and good risk assessment.
The wonderful thing about this course compared to other swiftwater rescue classes is that if you are a kayaker we will train using your skills with a kayak as an effective rescue tool. We avoid complex and unfamiliar techniques used by fire departments or other professionals responders who may or may not what (not who) an eddy is like river users do. Why consider a Tyrolean traverse when we can have skills to simply wade, paddle, or swim where we need to go? In this class we will be practicing our skills and applying them to real world scenarios, expect lots of swimming!
There are NFPA and FEMA aligned courses offered through Sierra Rescue, but this is for any boater on any river and should be considered necessary skills. The only prerequisite is basic river skills, you should feel comfortable in class 2 whitewater and be prepared to spend a large amount of time immersed in the river over our two day course (16 hours total). Plan to bring standard personal protective equipment (PPE) and any rescue equipment you typically carry (gear list provided with itinerary). And of course feel free to bring your craft of choice, even if you are a down river stand up paddle boarder, we’ll show you that it’s a very effective rescue tool!
2025 courses are expected to fill fast, availability will be given to waitlist members first and any vacancies will be offered to public after. Joining the waitlist is free and does not require commitment.
Wilderness Medical Courses
Wilderness First Aid & CPR (WFA):
This is a 2 day (16 hours) WFA certification course. The focus will be on good basic life support techniques as well as environmental issues that arise in the wilderness. The class is mostly hands on skills with the use of scenarios and labs.
Students completing the course will receive a 16hr SRI Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Card (valid for three years) and an OSHA Approved CPR Card (valid for two years). This meets or exceeds the minimum requirement for most CPR/ First Aid training needs.