Safety and Rescue

General Safety

CG66 - the Maritime and Coastguard Agency operates a Voluntary Safety ID Scheme - "a database that is accessible to all Coastguard Co-ordination Centres throughout the UK so that they have the information they need to mount a search and rescue operation should you get into difficulty"

Clothing - see the Equipment page for thoughts on how clothing can contribute to overall safety.

ColRegs/ International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea - from Sailtrain.

Cold water survival - discussion

Coastguard Operating Areas for Search & Rescue. This link takes you to a list of the CG Operating Area. Contact details for the relevant areas. The UKSKGB "Easy Reference Sheets" also have this information. Map showing the Operating Areas. The UKSKGB "Easy Reference Sheets" also have this information - Scotland - Western England & Wales - Eastern England.

Coastguard - notifying - discussion

First Aid - this discussion (from the Inland section) includes ideas on First Aid pack contents, and links to an excellent article (PDF) by Dr Andy Watts on Expedition First Aid here. See also this discussion for more thoughts on contents.

Flares - see the Equipment page.

Float Plan - pro-forma from Cailean MacLeod. (.PDF)

Hypothermia - detailed discussion with links to a number of other valuable resources. This article on Cold Water Shock from the ACC makes salutory reading.

Incident reports - see "Rescues and Incident Reports" below.

Leadership - in depth discussion looking at leadership strategies and group dynamics and touching on coaching and guided trips. See also this discussion. This discussion is about appropriate group size.

Lightning / storms - discusion here and here. See also this article from the (US) National Weather Service. See this discussioni

Maritime & Coastguard Agency are "responsible throughout the UK for implementing the Government’s maritime safety policy. That includes co-ordinating search and rescue at sea through Her Majesty’s Coastguard"

Mayday / Pan pan / phonetic alphabet. Summary of protocols and procedures for emergency calls, and the phonetic alphabet.

Military Exercise Areas - Ministry of Defense contacts for some of the military exercise areas are to be found in this discussion and this one. The SCA has some useful information about military exercise areas in Scotland.

Navigation - see the Navigation page

Night Paddling - Factsheet from Cailean MacLeod. (.PDF). See also this discussion on ways of seeing and being seen at night.

Planning your first multi-day trip? Mark Rainsley's article "a Special Kind of Freedom" is essential reading.

Radar & Kayaks - discussion

Risk taking - article from Risktaking.co.uk - a website which provides an "introduction to the psychology of risk taking for general readers, and specialised support for psychologists".

RNLI website. Includes a fascinating tour of a Severn class lifeboat and some good videos, as well as details of how to support this essential service.

Rolling - see the Technique Page for links to several articles and discussions.

Safe practise - an American introduction to safe practice.

Safety information, from RNLI - The Complete Guide - Booklet. The Complete Guide - CD Download. RNLI Kayaking Safety - (A5 Leaflet)

Safety - useful Fact Sheet from Cailean MacLeod. (.PDF). WaveLength magazine has some good safety articles.

Safety Kit - discussion

Solo Paddling - discussion

Strobes - see the Equipment page.

Towing / Tow lines - see the Equipment page

VHF - Marine VHF - a helpful safety item! The VHF / EPIRBs page has links to discussions on choosing and using.

Rescues and Incident reports.

The SCA Website used to carry a list of incident reports but they seem to have been removed as of June 2011 - however, the cache is here. The MCA also carries details of rescues, some of which will involve paddlers, on their Press Releases page. The RNLI does likewise. Many of the RNLI stations run their own websites, one such being Weymouth, on which details of launches can often be found. Searching the Sea & Surf Forum using the word "rescue" will bring up details of relevant posts there.

Rescue of a diver in distress - report of a real rescue, by Julian Patrick. Some useful learning points for kayakers. 2004.

This article details a "near miss" in the Firth of Forth. 2004.

SeaKayaker Magazine has this incident report of a fatality involving a novice. 2004.

Rescue of a kayaker in the vicinity of the Summer Isles - compilation of posts from the Community Forum. 2005.

Rescue by Swanage Lifeboat - sadly involving a fatality (not a kayaker) - summary of posts from the Community Forum with some learning points for kayakers. 2006.

Long discussion about an incident involving kayakers off Lands End. 2006.

This discussion deals with a tragic drowning in the Sound of Luing in 2007.

Very detailed report of a shoulder dislocation and subsequent rescue in the Firth of Forth. 2008.

Excellent write-up of a Mayday in the Orkneys. 2009.

Some worthwhile observations in this discussion (from KateD) on her experiences on a trip in the Clyde by the Cumraes. A deceptive bit of water! 2009.

This discussion details a very lucky rescue in the Orkneys. 2010.

This report of an incident off Den Helder in the Netherlands makes interesting reading. 2010.

Very sad fatality off the coast of Anglesey in North Wales in 2010.

Fatality in Shetland in 2010.

From Tower Hamlets Canoe Club, this trip report has some very subtle learning points from a trip in early 2010.

From the MCA, their 2010 Canoe & Kayak Incident Report. Interesting reading, although they do comment that "the term canoe or kayak is interchangeable throughout this report. From the current recording system it has been impossible to determine what type of canoe or kayak has been involved or differentiate between incidents involving sit-on tops and those involving enclosed kayaks. Some incidents involve paddle boarders as they may be considered a “paddling” sport."

A "canoeist" was found in the water off Eigg in 2011 by a local tour boat - no details other than the report of his death.

Discussion covering the rescue of a very large group off Portland Bill in 2011.

Discussion with a very candid and insightful report of a rescue near Flat Holme in 2011. Numerous learning points worthy of note. This discussion also covers the same incident.

This in depth article on Red Alder Ranch's blog details an incident in surf off the coast of Oregon in October 2011 and also links to a report of another incident with a group of beginers. Worth reading and contains a lot of learning points.

Rescue techniques.

"T", "X" "sling" etc - excellent illustrated article from the US on the Atlantic Kayak Tours site.

See the "Over the Side Rescue" outlined in Sea Kayaker Magazine.

Some excellent video clips are to be found on this Norwegian site - even if you don't understand Norwegian - "EGENREDNING" would appear to be "Self Rescue" as opposed to KAMERATREDNING which "Erling" tells me is "buddy rescue", or "assisted rescue".

Discussion here on rescue techniques and this one covers stirrup rescues and alternatives.

See this discussion on self rescue.

Kayakpaddling.net takes a novel approach with some clear animated diagrams on technique and rescue methods.

This discussion is about the different techniques for rescuing a double.