Voyageur: The Good, The Bad, and the Denver Omlette - Part II: The Voyageur's Perspective on Guide Safety Preparedness

 I had similar experiences to the Load at camp school. Perhaps they did away with the formal written evaluation when I went through, or perhaps I have forgotten about it, but I am sure that it was not a stellar evaluation. I did get a warning on the first day of the trek when I was zig-zagging all over the lake and purposely canoeing under low branches. I had viewed it as fun outing rather than a training course.

To be properly certified, we needed to get trained in first aid, CPR and a course called BSA Lifeguard. I don't know why the standard life guard certification that everyone else uses wasn't good enough, but it wasn't. Even more bizarre, our trips involved almost no swimming. In the rare instant a canoe capsized, everyone had life jackets on. Sometimes we would swim at the campsites, but typically people would not go very far from shore. Nevertheless, it was a requirement so we complied, sort of.

For as many years as I can remember, John C. ran the health lodge at camp. I think he was certified as an EMT, but he worked in this pretty big building and most of the time he was all alone. The crazy part was that this building had the capacity for 25+ beds, but typically no more than one was ever in use. If a kid got really sick or hurt he would be taken to the hospital. John C. was quite a guy. He was probably in his late 40s or early 50s when I worked there. Pretty normal looking guy. He had enormous hands though. He wasn't that tall, probably 6' or so, but he had the hands of a giant. You could always count on him to do his morning run around camp, precisely at 6 am every morning. He was the only one at camp who consistently obeyed the camp speed limit of 10 mph on the camp roads. He would just cruise around to wherever he needed to be. I think he was initially assigned the Wagoneer, certainly he treated it far better than anyone else.

One brief story about John and how calm he was. M.L. and I were riding our bikes down one of the trails and I wiped out. It wasn't that bad of a fall, but I got some nasty cuts and scrapes on my face because I happened to fall almost directly on a rock. I think it looked worse than it was, because cuts to the face tend to bleed a lot, even if not particularly deep. The story I heard is that someone relayed to John C. that I needed medical attention and he asked what had happened. Apparently, without even seeing me, he surmised that it wasn't that serious and said that he would come up after he finished his lunch. That is one calm guy.

John C. was responsible for teaching us the required first aid. John knew the first aid very well. He also understood that we were not super interested in the first aid, really just there to check a box. The first aid involved both a practical portion where you would demonstrate on a dummy and a written portion. During the practical portion if you put your hands in the wrong place, John C. would simply grab your hands with his enormous paws and put them in the right place. All that was necessary was to touch the dummy and John C. would take it from there. The written test part was interesting as well. Once John C. had distributed the tests he would inform us that he needed to leave and that he would be gone for at least 30 minutes. Strictly speaking, the tests were an individual effort. In practice, it was a bit different.

Finally, the BSA lifeguard section. It involved a lot of the usual skills, swimming, how to tow a swimmer in distress, how to right a canoe in the middle of the lake. Supposedly there are two ways to do it. First, if you have a second canoe, you can turn the swamped canoe upside down, approach the swamped canoe at a 90 degree angle and then lift it up on the second canoe so it is balanced across it making a big T. Then you turn it over and put it back in the drink, good as new. This method worked well, and was not that difficult. The trickiest part was breaking the initial suction and popping the end of the swamped canoe out of the lake. The second method was used if you only had one canoe. The idea was that two individuals, while treading water, could tip the canoe over (easy) and then lift the canoe high enough out of the water so that all the water drained out. Then while still holding the canoe over your head, you would flip it over. I never saw this pulled off.  Every time I tried, even with a life jacket I found that you ended up dunking yourself. If I capsized a canoe while traveling solo, I would have had to swim with it to the shore to empty it out.

Again, there wasn't much time, so the lifeguard course was kind of compressed. That suited me fine. The most absurd part of the training was that each time we came to an area in the wilderness, the lifeguard was supposed to spend a good hour inspecting the site for hazards before allowing anyone to swim. I think you were even supposed to maintain a log. Naturally, none of this was done. 

Added by the Load - One of the funnest things to do in a canoe, and one of the most frowned upon for safety reasons, is gunwale jumping. (Apparently 'gunnel' is an accepted alternate spelling of  'gunwale.')  Anyway, it's the act of standing up on the back of the canoe and pumping up and down with your legs; this action would lift the bow out of the water and when it slammed back down you would move forward.  You could really get a canoe moving swiftly for a bit!  Eventually it would start to turn and you would lose balance and fall.  Of course I never did this with my trek groups, but boy it looks fun!