Water Awareness and Safety (WAS) is a theoretical course that describes the risks related to inland waters (lakes, canals, rivers) and coastal.
The aim of this half-day classroom is to show an overview of the risks related to inland waters (lakes, canals, rivers) and coastal.
It’s designed for technicians who operate close to the water, but maintain a distance of at least 3 meters of the banks.
It is an excellent introduction to the practical course SWIW and SWIW specific for ARPA.

Duration: 3.5 hours

Teaching mode:
Theory online or in the classroom

Users:
River yard operators, Hydropower-plants workers, Environmental technicians (EIA, SEA), hydrogeological risk assessment (meteorologists, seismologists), this is a classroom-based course, so it is only for people who do not enter the water and maintain at least 3 meters from the bank.

The Safe Working In Water (SWIW) course is designed for people tasked with working in water who will need a self- and co-worker rescue capability using conditional rescue techniques, eg throwbags, wading techniques and reach poles. The target audience is EA, SEPA, NRW personnel, construction industry workers, road and bridge maintenance workers.
This course offers a higher level rescue capability than the Safe Working Near Water (SWNW) course.

Course length: 12 hours (2 days)

Teaching mode:
Classroom theory

Users:
River yard operators, Hydropower-plants workers, Environmental technicians (EIA, SEA), hydrogeological risk assessment (meteorologists, seismologists), flow measurements….

Prerequisites:
Fair physical condition and swimming skills. No specific experience needed.We higly recommend to attend WAS before.

Certification deadline:
Because the standard is constantly evolving, the SWIW certification is valid for 3 years. For maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or access a higher course.

This is the SWIW course developed for ARPA, European Environment Agency and other environmental agencies..

Course length: 2 day

Teaching mode:
Classroom theory and practice

Users:
Recommended for those who carry out sampling of biological matrices such as macrophytes, macrobenthos and fish fauna and flow measurements and those who work on assessments of environmental impact assessment or apply hydromorphological indices on any type of river.
Tools for monitoring technicians: fish, macrobenthos, macrophytes, MQI and FFI.
Environmental technicians (EIA, SEA), hydrogeological risk assessment (meteorologists, seismologists), flow measurements….

Prerequisites:
Fair physical condition and swimming skills. No specific experience needed. We higly recommend to attend WAS before.

Certification deadline:
Because the standard is constantly evolving, SWIW certification is valid for 3 years. Maintenance requires repeating the entire course or entering a higher course. (e.g. SRT, WRT)

This course is designed to assist you in meeting the operations level for water incidents.
The two-day course compounds one day in the classroom and one day of practical field exercises. Students are trained in hazard recognition, equipment use and techniques necessary to conduct basic shore and boat based rescue.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice.

Users:
People and Communities who live in potential flood risk areas, hydroelectric plant workers, technicians performing water measurements and surveys, firefighters and civil protection teams in support of rescue workers.

Prerequisites:
Intermediate swimming ability and good physical condition.

Certification deadline:
Because the standard is constantly evolving, the First Responder certification is valid for 3 years. For maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or access a higher course. (e.g. SRT, SRTA-W)

Note:
After completion of First Responder, certified personnel can work only under the supervision of technician level rescuers (SRT or more advanced)

This class is an intensive 4days,24+ hour class. The initial emphasis is on developing self-rescue skills.
Other objectives include an in-depth look at such subjects as: understanding water dynamics, handling hazards and obstacles, using basic rescue equipment, setting up technical rope systems, controlling in-water contact rescues, and much more. This course is dedicated to emergency services technicians.

Duration: 4 days

Teaching mode:
Theory in the classroom, practice and scenarios

Users:
Volunteers and Rescue Professionals (Firefighters, Military, Civil Protection, Red Cross, EMT, Dog Units, Mountain Rescue, other rescue groups…)

Pre-requisites:
good physical condition and swimming capacity.

Certification deadline:

Because the standard is constantly evolving, the SRT certification is valid for 3 years. For maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or access a higher course. (e.g. SRTA-W)

It is the natural evolution of the SRT Level. All the techniques previously acquired are now implemented in more complex and advanced environments.
Main focus is on preplanning, risk assessment, group dynamics, decision making in high risk scenarios such as steep banks access, poor visibility in water operations, low head dams rescues and others.

Duration: 4 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, advanced scenarios.

Users:
Professional rescuers, (Fire fighters, Search and Rescue personnel, military personnel, police, key leaders and instructors from other rescue groups.
Also suitable for recreational boaters, professional river personnel (rafting guides, kayaking instructors, canyoning guides, …)

Prerequisites:
Good health condition/swimming skills

Certification deadline:
Because the standard is constantly evolving, the SRTA-W certification is valid for 3 years. For maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or access a higher course.

Note:
If your skills have waned since taking the SRT course (especially rope work techniques), you may find it more appropriate to attend the original course again, as others have done in the past. We guarantee it will not be a repetition as you will get plenty of new information you did not notice while attending the previous session.

The WRT-REC is a course designed for recreational paddlers who wish to improve their awareness about river hazards and to develop good rescue capability whilst paddling with their peers.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
Kayak club members, informal non-paying paddlers completing a river trip, slalom and downhill race athletes.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills with experience of water-based activities (Rafting, Whitewater kayaking, Sea kayaking, …)

Certification deadline:
As the standard is constantly evolving, the WRT-Rec certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course. (WRT-Pro)

This intensive 3 days course develops many of the techniques presented in the SRT course and other crucial matters related to the outdoor industry (Whitewater rafting, Kayaking, SUP, Hydrospeed, Canyoning, …).
The practice will be progressively implemented in challenging water (class III°- IV°, step by step).

Duration: 3 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for river guides, kayaking instructors, canyoning guides, enthusiasts and professional rescuers who wish to train in challenging whitewater.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills with experience of water-based activities (Rafting, Whitewater kayaking, Sea kayaking, …)

Certification deadline:
As the standard is constantly evolving, the WRT Pro certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course (WRT ADVANCED).

The Whitewater Rescue Technician Advanced course follows on from the WRT-PRO course and is designed for outdoor professionals working in challenging environments, such as class 4/5 water, self-supported expeditions or in gorges/canyons where vertical access/egress may be required. As with the WRT, the focus is on solutions to common rescue situations, and effective use of river rescue knowledge with simple and advanced gear.

Duration: 4 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, advanced scenarios

Users:
River guides, kayaking instructors, safety kayakers canyoning guides.

Prerequisites
WRT PRO – SRT or SRTA certification and good health condition/strong swimming skills with experience in whitewater.

Certification deadline:

As the standard is constantly evolving, the WRTA certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course.

Note:
Access to this course requires that all techniques covered in the WRT-PRO/SRT/SRTA have been assimilated into theory and their practical use. If you are uncertain about your skills, we strongly recommend you to attend the whole course again as many do.
We guarantee that it will not be a repetition and you will discover many more themes that you had previously missed… and this also applies to those who think they have everything clear! ).
It’s important to be physically trained.

This seminar focuses on rescue techniques applied to a vehicle fallen into a channel/river, with scenarios ranging from low to high risk. The following techniques are practiced and implemented: vehicle stabilization (car, motor home, minibus, etc.), access, evacuation of the victim/s.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for Firefighters, professional rescuers, militaries, civil protection.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills, SRT or advanced level

Certification deadline:
As the standard is constantly evolving, the WRTA certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course.

A unique training.
This full on seminar focuses on river rescue techniques and equipment in low head dam/Weir rescue. During this course, you will learn the hazards of low head dams and how to rescue starting from low to high risk options with the use of reach tools, inflated firehoses, ropes, rafts, swimming etc. We follow the standard of N. R. Wales Weir Risk Assessment system.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for Firefighters, professional rescuers, militaries, civil protection. Recommended also for recreational boaters, kayaking instructors, raft guides, canyoning guides.

Prerequisites
Excellent physical condition and swimming ability, certification WRT PRO, WRT A – SRT or SRT A. And a hard course, especially psychologically.

This intensive course is designed for firefighters and civil protection, as well as anyone susceptible to be dealing with river rescue from high access point (i.e. bridges), by using reach/throw techniques by using ropes and inflated firehose. The aim is to respond in a manner that allows to keep the rescuers out of the water.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for Firefighters, professional rescuers, militaries, civil protection.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills, SRT or advanced level

Certification deadline:
As the standard is constantly evolving, this certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course.

Specific basic course for raft handling in rescue and flood operations.
You will learn basic and advanced manoeuvres, review high risk scenarios, study the most common rescues/recovery scenarios with a raft, transport of medical personnel for stabilization, as well as dealing with the transport of victims and evacuation from flooded houses.

Duration: 2 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for Firefighters, professional rescuers, militaries, civil protection, recommended to beginner raft guides.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills, SRT or advanced level

Certification deadline:
As the standard is constantly evolving, the SPBH certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course.

Going beyond!
In SPBH, the aim was just to raise the awareness of the dos and dont’s, now we proceed with the intensive practice of the do’s. You will be working in high risk rescue scenarios like low head dams, wrapped rafts, building transport systems for medical stabilization, get ropes across the river, evacuations, etc.

Duration: 3 Days

Methodical structure:
Theory, practice, scenarios

Users:
This course is specific for Firefighters, professional rescuers, militaries, civil protection, recommended for raft guides.

Prerequisites
Good health condition/swimming skills, SRT or advanced level

Certification deadline:

As the standard is constantly evolving, the Beyond SPBH certification is valid for 3 years. For the maintenance it is necessary to repeat the entire course or attend a higher course.

If our courses do not cover some crucial matters for you, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be glad to create a custom made seminar, or a dedicated multi agency training which meets your requirements.
If we are not able to provide directly the service, we probably know who can!
In all these years we have developed an important network in the rescue world.