The weekend of the 15th and 16th September 2018 saw South Worcester Flood Rescue Unit complete the first half of a Swiftwater Rescue Technicians course for new members and those due for requalification. The course was run by some SLSGB Flood instructors and was kindly hosted by Sankey Marine, whose support we greatly appreciate. A big thank you also has to go to the Big Lottery Awards for All Fund, which through a grant of £10K has allowed us to run this course, purchase essential training equipment and personal kit, such as dry suits and PFD’s for the new recruits.
During the weekend the candidates had classroom inputs, receiving the all-important theory input before being put through their paces with technical rope work and some water skills.
In addition to the candidates being put through their paces, two of the instructors, Abbi and Alex were being assessed as part of their instructor continued professional development.
The final weekend will be held at Cardiff International White Water Centre where the candidates will be tested in the Swiftwater environment with the velocity of the water gradually increasing through the two days. Imagine where you would go white water rafting, we train in it … without the raft!!
Thanks to Adrian Mayhew, Adam Milne, Abbi Jones and Alex Bowden for running the course.