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CLOUDY Temp: 61 °F Wind: WNW at 5 mph Monday, September 29, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 8, 2003 Eric Peterson of Talent pretends his foot is stuck between rocks in the Rogue River near Gold Hill Sunday during a training session for Coast Guard rescue swimmers. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Taking the plunge Ten swimmers learn the challenges of trying to save lives in swift waters during a training session near Gold Hill By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune "The river never stops," Joe Kean said as he stood beside a quiet stretch of the Rogue River upstream from Gold Hill. The Coast Guard rescue swimmer from Astoria feels comfortable in big ocean waves and wild storms, but the power of the Rogue River surprised him when he came to Southern Oregon for a three-day class in swift-water rescue. "The ocean tends to give you a break," Kean said. "There are a few seconds between sets of waves. The river never stops." Ten rescue swimmers spent the weekend on the river near Gold Hill to learn how to move safely in swift water. They came from as far as Kodiak, Alaska, to work with Eric Peterson, a Talent rescue instructor and whitewater guide. Peterson led them through a course that taught them to recognize the hazards in fast-moving water and work around them. Advertisement Coast Guard rescue swimmers usually work in cold, deep ocean water, flying offshore in helicopters to pluck people from the water when boats go down in storms. Peterson said the Coast Guard wants to train the swimmers to work in fast-flowing water, too, because they are sometimes called to assist in river rescues or to help flood victims. "They’re getting more of these calls as more people are out on rivers," Peterson said. "They’re all professional rescuers, but the river is not their fort�. If they don’t know how rivers behave, they can get in trouble pretty quick." The Coast Guardsmen discovered that swimming in a whitewater river is nothing like paddling through a storm-tossed sea. Rivers have their own particular hazards — such as rocks that can snag a dangling leg and trap a swimmer. "In the ocean you can put your legs down and swim," said Josh Mitcheltree, a rescue swimmer from Kodiak. "In the river you have to play the defensive role. You float with your legs up in front of you. It’s a lot different from flying around in a helicopter." "You have to deal with how the current pulls at you all the time," said Gabe Pulliam, a swimmer from the Coast Guard station in San Francisco. Peterson, 33, shared the rescue techniques he learned from Rescue 3 International, a California-based rescue school that teaches techniques for ground, air and water rescue in 12 countries around the world. He created a company called Oregon Rescue Technologies to teach swift-water rescue skills locally. "The main goal was to teach them to be comfortable in a river environment," he said. "I didn’t need to teach them how to rescue." Getting comfortable required some new thinking from swimmers accustomed to vast stretches of open water. "The (river) water’s all different," said Pulliam, "with its currents and eddies. And it sweeps you away so fast." Peterson taught the swimmers how to throw ropes to reach a stranded person in midstream and showed them how to use several ropes at once to pull people out of the water across strong currents. He served as the victim in several rescue drills while the swimmers practiced their new skills and used hand signals to communicate over the roar of the river. As the swimmers came off the river for the last time Sunday, several said they had had underestimated the river when the class began. "After going through 4½ months of swimmer school where the dropout rate was 80 percent, I thought this would be easy," Kean said. "But this was demanding — with the power and the speed of the water. I loved it." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times