Rescue 3: Water Safety For Expedition Leaders (WSEL)
The Water Safety of Expedition Leaders course from Rescue 3 is a fairly new course with very few instructors in the world qualified to train and certify new candidates. It was immediately obvious when the qualification came out that there was huge potential within the Packrafting space for this course and as such we were enthusiastic to begin the process of becoming a trainer/assessor. That's not to say this course is limited, by any stretch of the imagination, to packrafters.
The course is designed for anyone leading a group on the river, in any craft whether in a professional or recreational context.
The reason for the wide remit, is that in most places in the world, there is very little distinction between professional or recreational river runners and their elevated duty of care.
This qualification, therefore is absolutely ideal for anyone organising river trips for someone like PRANZ (Packrafting Association of NZ), a group of mates or a professional guide organising expeditions.
Overview
Minimum Contact Time: 12 hours
Pre-Requisits: Confident Swimmer, 18 years old
Qualification Valid for: 3 Years
Taught by: Water Safety for Expedition Leaders Instructors (WSELI)
Contents
The course is split over 2 sessions, one theory and one practical. For practicalities sake, if you have a group interested, it is possible to run the theory over a couple of zoom sessions prior to the practical assessment.
Areas Covered Include:
- Risk, Responsibility and Duty of Care
- Best Practice Guidelines (formerly "The 15 absolutes")
- Hydrology and Hazards
- Group and Persons Equipment
- Expedition Planning
- Safety Management Systems
- Risk Management
- Search and Rescue/Incident management
- Medical Considerations
- Communication
The Assessed Skills Include:
- Dynamic Risk Assessment
- Conditional Rescue (Throw Bagging)
- Moving Water Swimming Techniques.
Who is this for?
Queenstown is the home of our operation, however if you have a small group interested, we can look into travelling to you.
This course is ideal for Polytech groups, university canoe clubs, Outdoor Education professionals. The strength of courses run by Rescue 3 International, is that they are recognised and well respected not only in New Zealand, but around the world. Guides working within the Outdoor Education or Adventure Tourism space will find this provides an incredible understanding of the legal responsibilities of those of use leading groups, making this an ideal piece of continued professional development. Ideally suited to those looking to shape their career path towards management or going into business for themselves.
For the recreationalist, the course is invaluable as a framework to understand how to better plan your own packrafting trips. One of the most amazing things about packrafts is being able to truely explore. Sure, you can follow other people's trip reports, but if you're looking to get creative and invent your own traverses, this is an amazing tool to learn what goes into pioneering river travel.
