Hasty Team trains for swift water rescues

Even with the sun shining on a late October Saturday, the water temperature of the Metolius River near Wizard Falls Trout Hatchery was a daunting 45 degrees.

Yet, for 13 members of the all- volunteer Camp Sherman Hasty Team of Jefferson County Search and Rescue, it would take more than a frigid Fahrenheit reading to cool their mutual desire to river swim the Metolius.

Each one plunged into the turquoise water of the main channel -- at that point a narrow, deep, swift- flowing stream -- and with feet up and forward, steered several hundred yards to the Wizard Falls bridge, where they beached, returned upstream and performed the same feat over again -- several times.

The exercise was part of the group's swift- water rescue training from instructors Lance Dyer and Mike Baxter, both engineers for the Bend Fire Department, who were doing the training as private contractors affiliated with Rescue 3 International. The Sonora, California- based agency is the largest of its type in the world, said Dyer.

The Camp Sherman trainees spent last Saturday and Sunday in and around the Metolius to complete 30 hours of instruction.

The lucky ones wore borrowed dry suits, along with helmets and flotation devices. The others wore wet suits, not as desirable in a stream like the Metolius which never warms above 48 degrees.

Hasty Team coordinator Mark Foster explained that dry suits stay dry on the inside and permit the user to wear several layers of warm clothing underneath, while the tight- fitting wet suits possess neither virtue. The thermal benefit of the dry suit is extremely important in very cold streams.

The drawback to dry suits is their price -- $250 to $500 each for suits appropriate for the Metolius, where most Hasty Team rescues will take place.

Foster is seeking four used dry suits from anyone who has a surplus suit in good condition. Those wishing to donate are asked to call him at 595- 6376 in the evenings.

Twelve trainees have been working for initial state certification and one for recertification, but Dyer said four suits will make a "good start" on equipping the team, since no large number of rescuers is in the water at any one time.

He noted, however, that any responder might be called upon to enter a stream at some point, and that anyone standing within 10 feet of the river should wear full protective equipment: helmet, flotation device and thermal suit.

In addition to the defensive river swim, the Hasty Team volunteers were taught how to handle themselves in various hydrological conditions and among swift- water hazards, how to make shallow-water crossings, deploy high lines across rivers, effect in- water rescues and rescue from a boat.

Such training results in good team building, Dyer said.

He and Baxter, however, don't restrict themselves to training rescue teams. "We're geared to provide techniques for rafters, boaters and kayakers on wilderness rivers and in recreational areas," Dyer said.

Although search and rescue outfits like the Camp Sherman Hasty Team are first- response groups, boaters themselves may often be the very first on the scene of a river accident, especially within their own party.

Dyer said agencies and individuals can call him in the evenings at 389- 2573, or Baxter at 385- 6996, for information about swift- water rescue instruction.