‘Worst Case Scenario’ - NorthSeaKayak

Posted on Friday 7th April, 2017

It is always importnat to be confident and ready in all situations you find 'yourself' and 'other's' in! Dimtri and the North Sea Kayak crew practice these scenario's on a regular basis - here is an insight into what they get up too!

"One of our own team mates capsized, lost his kayak and became unconscious - three kilometres offshore during our last trip.  It’s probably one of the worst nightmares that can happen to us.  Luckily it’s just a training scenario, the “worst case scenario” in fact! 

In our group we train for these situations on a regular basis, not only because we want to paddle safer, but to also build up trust in each other and to learn from mistakes - getting better in what we do. 

It is also a team building exercise and great fun!  The week before we did the same scenario, but in rougher conditions, and this worked very well too.

It is important to state that this is in no way a training video, we just want to show what is possible and how we respond to such an incident as a team.  There is certainly no “one solution for every problem”, but this is a possible way to counter these events."

 

 

"Always make sure you take care of the (unconscious) paddler first.  Retrieving their kayak comes later.  If the paddler is conscious and you’re sure that they are OK, you can go after the drifting kayak and bring it back to them.  Most important is to communicate with each other in a loud and clear way.  Work always as a team, not as an individual, and get everyone involved.  Make sure to take First Aid classes on a regular basis, make sure to know how to use your equipment (radio, cell phone, Personal Locater Beacon,….) and dress for immersion.  Always wear your PFD, no exceptions!"

Dimitri - NORTHSEAKAYAK