After recognizing and assessing the conventional and unconventional swiftwater and flood rescue hazards in your community, it's time to develop a strategic plan to address them in a realistic way.

If, after a thorough assessment and review of historical data, the likelihood of flood and swiftwater hazards within a jurisdiction is determined to be nonexistent, it's of little benefit to devote scarce funding and resources to develop elaborate rescue capabilities. An obvious exception is when the agency is part of a regional response system, in which case it might be called on to help manage river and flood emergencies in adjoining districts.

If the risk is determined to be minor, the appropriate response may be to establish a corresponding level of awareness among first and secondary responders, providing them with the necessary equipment and training to conduct basic shore-based rescue operations in a reasonably safe manner. In addition, the secondary responders, whether they're members of a rescue company, us&r unit, swiftwater rescue team or regional response team, should have the means to enter the water to attempt contact rescues as a last resort.

But if the risks are determined to be moderate or severe, it's prudent to consider more elaborate planning and preparedness measures. Swiftwater and us&r training that meets nfpa 1670 or other recognized standards is usually sufficient to address most conventional and unconventional river and flood hazards.

Water rescue resources In some parts of the nation, there have been relatively few local resources for training and information on river and flood rescue. Generally speaking, however, the availability of river and flood rescue training is on a gradual upswing, due to the emergency services' greater awareness of the hazards associated with these operations and to the public's expectation that we're prepared for these events.

The newly adopted nfpa 1670 includes new standards for water rescue career paths, including Water Rescue Dive Technician, Ice Rescue Technician, Surf Rescue Technician and Swiftwater Rescue Technician. nfpa 1670 also includes standards for awareness and operational levels in each of these water rescue-related disciplines. Other guidelines can be found with the National Association of Search and Rescue, which has had a water rescue component for years.

States like Arizona, California, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and others have undertaken extensive programs to train fire and rescue personnel to manage the consequences of floods, swiftwater situations, and even mud and debris flows. And in the aftermath of devastating flooding related to recent hurricanes, fema is considering adding flood and swiftwater rescue to the official capabilities of the nation's us&r task forces.

Training sources also include private companies that specialize in technical rescue or swiftwater rescue. Some existing courses teach solutions for wild river scenarios exclusively, because they began by training river guides before branching into the emergency services.

As awareness of the unique problems faced by many municipal fire departments expands, specialized training is increasingly being developed for rescues in flood control channels, which are frequently more dangerous than natural rivers due to the water speed, sheer concrete walls and limited egress; underground waterways; and other "urban" or "suburban" swiftwater rescue hazards.

A number of fire departments now conduct formal river and flood rescue courses as part of their standard firefighter training curriculum. In Southern California, some departments include swiftwater rescue and us&r training in their recruit academies, and several community college fire science programs now offer river and flood rescue training.

Who to train, and where Some agencies have found it advantageous to assign a core group of personnel to attend a variety of river and flood rescue courses, thereby acquiring an adequate level of understanding to make realistic recommendations for the development of local water rescue programs. Within some major fire/rescue agencies, existing technical rescue units are assigned to develop swiftwater rescue training, sops and departmental response plans.

The extent to which training should be conducted depends on the local hazards and the nature of the local response system. In most areas with river and flood rescue hazards, basic training should be given to all personnel, since it's impractical to predict just who might be confronted by the next swiftwater or flood emergency.

Advanced rescue capabilities may be developed within designated units, such as truck companies, rescue companies, us&r units or technical rescue teams. Personnel assigned to those units can then provide basic training for the rest of the department.

Don't overlook the command staff. Chief officers can benefit from awareness and operational training, helping them to size up flood and swiftwater incidents, develop effective incident action plans, assign or approve effective tactics, and maintain a reasonable margin of safety for rescuers.

In some areas of the country, particularly the West, realistic river and flood rescue training sites may be in short supply, especially during dry months. It's not always necessary for personnel to enter moving water to practice rescue techniques, but it's generally more effective in terms of building a base of experience and honing skills.

For first responders in arid regions, "dry land" drills may be effective for teaching basic skills like throw bags, tensioned rope systems, shallow water crossing and other techniques. It's common for departments in the Southwest to conduct such training in flood control channels and dry riverbeds. It's especially effective to conduct these drills in places prone to swiftwater and flood emergencies.

Generally speaking, clean water running through relatively safe channels is required for in-the-water training. For nearly 20 years, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and other agencies have used a man-made river at a local amusement park, as well as several sections of the California aqueduct system, for training sites.

Before any in-water rescue training is conducted, it's critical to ensure that there are enough trained instructors with a training plan designed for safety. Personal safety equipment is a must for anyone training near moving water.

What to buy Personnel operating in close proximity to moving water should be provided with at least a minimum level of protection, which includes U.S. Coast Guard-approved Type III or Type V personal flotation devices. Attached to each pfd should be a rescue knife to cut away rope or debris in case of entanglement in moving water and a whistle for emergency communication.

Other ppe should match the level of exposure to danger. This includes footwear, such as wet suit booties, sneakers or other lightweight shoes with hard rubber soles; head protection, such as rescue helmets; and occasionally wet suits or dry suits for thermal protection and reduction of abrasions.

There's also a wide variety of other equipment types and models on the market to deal with particular hazards, ranging from line-throwing devices to inflatable rescue boats. Minimum rescue equipment should include throw bags, 60 to 80 feet of polypropylene or nylon rope stuffed into a floating bag; rescue rope and hardware; lights; and tools for reaching assists, such as pike poles.

New devices now being developed include all manner of rescue floats, rescue hardware and the so-called "Albuquerque Rescue Curtain," a net device hung on a high line over a channel to snag victims from flood channels and move them to shore by sliding on the rope like a shower curtain.

In some places, it's a struggle to fund such equipment. However, it should be noted that the costs incurred by a single firefighter death or a lawsuit arising from a failed rescue attempt may be many times higher than the cost of properly equipping an entire fire department.

Some sample SOPs As in other fire service operations, standard operating procedures are designed to support the operations that training has made possible. sops formalize the use of particular tactics and techniques for given situations, but they should be flexible enough to allow for informed decision-making at the scene.

sops sometimes represent the expected levels of performance designated by the local agencies. As such, they should outline the following topics:

* Mandatory appropriate personal protective equipment.

* Prohibitions on equipment or apparel likely to endanger personnel if they accidentally fall into the water or enter it to attempt a rescue. (Examples include full turnouts, structure fire helmets, ropes tied around rescuers' bodies in moving water and other items that may adversely affect safety. Combining these with fast-moving water creates a scenario that's killed many firefighters and other would-be rescuers.)

* Upstream safety spotters to warn of debris approaching the rescue scene.

* Personnel staged at strategic downstream points, ready to conduct a rapid intervention in case a rescuer or victim is swept away.

* The use of low-risk methods whenever possible, and the consideration of increasingly higher-risk options as necessary.

* The staging of only properly trained and equipped personnel in idlh environments like low head dams and concrete flood channels with vertical walls.

* Standard communications, techniques and tactics that are shared by mutual aid resources.

* Waterway rescue preplans that are used as the initial incident action plan whenever possible, providing a basis for the first actions of all responders.

* Consideration of the safety of each individual rescuer, the rescue team, bystanders and the victim - in that order.

Preplanned advantages Waterway rescue preplans were first advanced by the Ohio State Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio State Fire Marshal in their widely renowned river rescue training programs. The Albuquerque (N.M.) Fire Department added a new dimension to the concept with its Code Raft preplanned response system for rescues in cement-lined flood channels.

In Los Angeles County, this idea has been widely adopted by most fire-rescue agencies and refined to cover flood channels, natural rivers and streams, and flash flood zones. For example, the lacfd has worked closely with Albuquerque developing methods to integrate preplans with cad response matrices. This allows for the dispatch of numerous units downstream in a linear pattern, following the channel in which a rescue occurs. The lafd has further refined the cad system to calculate the maximum speed of water flowing in every major flood channel, automatically dispatching units downstream.

These are important considerations, because water in flood channels can exceed 35mph. If units are delayed or not dispatched far enough downstream, a victim will pass rescue points before rescuers can get there and may never be seen again. This was a rather common occurrence before the advent of waterway rescue preplans and cad systems.

Since their inception, the new systems have proved themselves time and again. In Albuquerque, more than a dozen firefighters and police officers have been swept into flood channels while attempting rescue. Each one was rescued at downstream rescue points as specified in the response matrices and preplans. Many citizens have also been saved.

It's now common for reports of a water rescue to trigger the simultaneous dispatch of up to 20 units from different fire departments that participate in automatic aid agreements with waterway rescue preplans. Within a few minutes, it's typical to find at least five engines, a truck company, a paramedic squad, a us&r company, a battalion chief, at least one swiftwater rescue team, lifeguards and two helicopters setting up for rescue at strategic points along flood control channels.

When mud and debris flows, flash floods and fast-rise flooding occurred during Southern California's deadly storms in the winters of 1992-96, it was common to find dozens of aerial and ground rescue resources working in a highly coordinated fashion to locate and rescue trapped residents. Because of these efforts, victims were given every possible chance for rescue, and more than 200 were saved.

The effectiveness of these operations owes to the extensive preplanning conducted by fire and rescue agencies across the region. Combined with proper training, equipment and inter-agency cooperation, this type of integrated response program can be adapted for use almost anywhere that swiftwater and flood rescue is a problem.

Importance of incident command Whether you're commanding a flood channel incident with 25-foot-deep water moving 35mph, a natural river or a flash flood in the middle of the desert, there are some inherent challenges. If the previously mentioned preparations have been afforded, however, many of those will already have been mitigated.

If none of the aforementioned preparations have been made, you're already behind the eight ball because it's a crap shoot - to mix a metaphor - whether anyone responding to the incident knows even the most basic safety precautions. There might not be adequate controls in place to discourage firefighters from jumping into a low head dam wearing full turnouts, there might not be any sops requiring personnel to wear safety gear, there might not be appropriate safety gear, and there might not be a standard swiftwater or flood operational plan.

When these preparations have been neglected, the entire responsibility for success or failure falls on the shoulders of the incident commander, which brings up the issue of rapid intervention. If there's no plan, it's likely that no one will be prepared to assist firefighters and other would-be rescuers who get into trouble during the course of the emergency. Under such conditions, it's not uncommon to find one ill-prepared would-be rescuer after another jumping in the water to help their colleagues, thereby creating a secondary disaster.

Sound far-fetched? It shouldn't, and a significant incident in Albuquerque helps illustrate this point. During the course of a single incident involving two teenagers who were swept through the city in a series of interconnected concrete-lined flood control channels, nearly one dozen firefighters and police officers ended up in 30mph water. Some of the would-be rescuers fell in, others purposely entered the water to attempt a contact rescue or rapid intervention, and others were pulled into the current while maneuvering rescue ropes along the rain-slicked shoreline.

These "rescuers" became scattered across different locations along a 4-mile stretch of flood channel. The ic had no way of knowing how many of his people had fallen into the water, or where they were. During the height of the incident, there was no way to determine the exact personnel accountability status. The firefighters were wearing personal flotation devices that allowed them to stay on the surface, which probably saved some lives. However, none of the police officers were equipped with ppe for this hazard, and several received serious injuries, including one career-ending wound.

Fortunately, the Albuquerque Fire Department had taken the time and effort to train and prepare all its personnel to conduct shore-based swiftwater rescue, with the proper safety equipment, backed up by an extremely effective waterway rescue preplan. This ensured the immediate establishment of strategic rescue points downstream, which led to the rescue of every firefighter, police officer and victim.

Now, not only did the Albuquerque Fire Department provide excellent life safety service to the public through its attention to known swiftwater and flood rescue hazards, but it ensured the safety of firefighters and other rescuers under high-risk conditions. The best conclusion to any presentation is a demonstration of its efficacy. In this sense, the Albuquerque Fire Department's response to this and other flood channel rescue incidents exemplifies the importance of identifying and planning for swiftwater/flood hazards, hands down.

In 1992, the lacfd air operations and us&r sections pioneered a new variation of the short haul system for plucking victims from fast-moving water in flood channels.

Using a standard rope lowering system with a three-point anchor rigged inside the helicopter and a brake bar rack for the lowering device, a crewman standing on the helicopter's skid lowers a rescuer below the aircraft while the pilot matches the victim's water speed.

As the rescuer is "dipped" into the water, he secures the victim with a nylon strap, and the pilot lifts them out of the water while still matching the water speed. This is a form of fixed-line flyaway performed in the water; it's helicopter choreography, precision flying at its best.

In a variation of this evolution, a rescuer enters the water, contacts and connects the victim to his own rescue harness, then floats with the victim as the helicopter flies overhead. A crewman on the skid lowers a fixed rescue rope to the rescuer in the water as the pilot matches the water speed. The rescuer connects himself and the victim to the line with a large locking carabiner. The pilot then lifts them out of the water and sets them down on shore.

All personnel assigned to lacfd us&r task forces and swiftwater rescue teams are certified in these and other helicopter-based rescue methods. Annual skills testing is required, and the maneuvers are practiced often in a fast-water aqueduct.

Due to the heightened danger of these evolutions, they're generally used when shore-based rescue methods prove (or are likely to prove) unsuccessful. For an incident commander, the availability of these capabilities is an important tool that may be used to rescue a firefighter in trouble.

In 1992, a significant development placed a new tool at the disposal of local emergency officials. Known as the Los Angeles County Multi-Agency Swiftwater Rescue System, or masrs, this powerful tool is the result of a mandate by the county board of supervisors to coordinate the vast countywide, multi-agency network of activities necessary to prepare and respond to flood-related emergencies.

The catalyst for the board's decree was the deadly 1992-93 El Nino storm season, which prompted the rescue of dozens of stranded victims - including firefighters - and caused a number of deaths across Southern California.

masrs is guided by a task force of fire, law enforcement and rescue professionals with a mission to improve countywide coordination of flood and swiftwater rescue activities. The task force represents fire departments from the city and county of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, and various other public safety agencies. This group reports directly to the county administrative officer and the board of supervisors.

The task force is supported by specialists from the county's Department of Public Works and other associated agencies. The group meets periodically to evaluate the current status of masrs, consider and implement improvements, and provide overall coordination of the county's storm emergency response system.

The result is a blend of public safety and public works agencies that has created a countywide tiered response to swiftwater rescue incidents and flood disasters. First and secondary responders are reinforced by up to 23 specially trained airborne and ground-based swiftwater rescue teams based at strategically chosen fire stations across the county. These teams are staffed by lifeguards and rescue specialists from local fire departments and law enforcement agencies.

For victims trapped in or on automobiles and submerged homes, and for children being swept away by flood control channels, masrs provides rescue assistance on a scale never before seen.

For first responders, it means assurance that if they happen to be swept away while attempting a rescue, there's a reasonable chance that they'll be rescued by swiftwater rescue team members, whose job is to provide emergency backup for first responders and perform the most dangerous rescues.

As part of the design of masrs, fire-rescue personnel are strongly supported by the special resources provided by the Los Angeles County and City departments of public works, the National Weather Service, the California Office of Emergency Services, and other public agencies that have roles in the planning and response to flood-related emergencies

masrs effectiveness remains heavily dependent on the first responders. Simply put, it's often during the first minutes of a rescue that first-arriving firefighters have the best chance of spotting victims, providing them with emergency flotation to prevent them from disappearing below the surface and plucking them from the water.

That's why, in addition to supporting advanced research and development for the countywide swiftwater rescue teams and the secondary responders, masrs continues to dedicate significant resources to the proper training and equipping of first responders.

Topographical features and natural or manmade objects make certain areas prone to devastating floods.

Some flooding events, like those along major rivers like the Mississippi in recent decades, can be anticipated hours or even days in advance. Flood surges along these rivers can be estimated, tracked and verified as they pass designated points and populated areas upstream. Other events occur without warning, leaving just minutes or, if luck prevails, hours to notify and evacuate threatened populations. Examples include dam failure, tsunamis, flash floods, and mud and debris flows.

With the tools of modern technology, it's now possible to generate inundation maps for many of these known hazards, allowing fire-rescue agencies to develop effective plans to notify, evacuate and rescue people living and working in the inundation zones. In fact, there's little excuse for modern fire-rescue agencies to neglect this kind of planning for known inundation hazards.

Even the public is increasingly aware of the availability of inundation maps. Some are even on the Internet, produced by municipal public works agencies, offices of emergency services and other sources. Consequently, the public is less tolerant of cases where known hazards were ignored by the public safety officials whose job it is to make the best use of this data to protect the public.

In Los Angeles County, where more than 200 dams of various types and sizes are found, the threat of dam failure is immense due in part to the constant threat of damaging earthquakes. In fact, two large dams have failed there in the past century, with death tolls exceeding 500. Two other dams were severely damaged in 1971 and 1994 earthquakes, when they threatened to loose huge walls of water on unsuspecting populations downstream.

Consequently, inundation maps have been distributed to all affected fire stations and are carried on every apparatus for use during dam failure or threatened failure. Local emergency operations centers and other command and control facilities are supplied with inundation maps for planning emergency notification, evacuation, and search and rescue operations.

In Southern California, a place previously thought to be immune from local-source tsunamis, studies are being conducted under the auspices of the California Office of Emergency Services to determine exactly which stretches of coastline are prone to inundation from near-focus seismic sea waves. That effort, in turn, is generating time-critical plans to educate the public and safety personnel about the hazard, to develop warning systems and evacuation plans, and to implement new emergency response plans among the fire and rescue services.