Todd Wright

Greetings, Josh Hall, John Carmody and Todd A Johnstone-Wright will be offering an ACA Level 5 IDW in Maine this summer and it should prove to be a hoot. Cheers, Todd American Canoe Association Level 5: Advanced Open Water (AOW) IDW Level 4 OW/Level 5 AOW Update Dates: June 8-11, 2015 *Lodging is available through 10 AM on June 12th. Location: The IDW/Update will be based out on Georgetown Island, Maine. This location provides candidates with access to a variety of OW and AOW venues within a 1 hour commute. Overview: The purpose of the Level 5 AOW IDW, L5/L4 Update is to expose candidates to a variety of teaching/coaching methods and behaviors intended to enhance an individual candidate’s current practice. At the core the Level 5 IDW is designed to develop an individual’s knowledge, understanding and ability as it pertains to teaching, instructing and coaching in the OW/AOW environment. This course will encourage instructors to put modern educational and coaching theory into practice with the goal of creating highly differentiated and contextualized sessions. Upon completion of the course candidates will leave with a detailed, written action plan to guide them as they prepare for assessment. Corresponding ICE: For those interested in assessing, we plan to host an authentic, performance based ICE November 20-22 2015; this provides candidates a full season to work on their action plan and prepare for assessment. The assessment will begin at 6PM on the 20th and candidates will have the opportunity to teach, instruct and coach authentic students in AOW environments on the 21st and 22nd. Why do we separate training and assessment? While the ICW (Instructor Certification Workshop) has become an increasingly popular method of certifying instructors and is a valid mode of acquiring an ACA Instructor Certification it poses numerous challenges. In regard to Level 5, historically the course has been offered as an ICE, as all candidates are required to be Level 4 Instructors. In both cases, it is unrealistic to expose candidates to potentially new concepts and content early in a course and expect unconscious competence or mastery in days or hours without adequate time for practice and application. It is equally unrealistic for assessors to perform a formal, objective examination in the context of a training course, when candidates are expected to be experimenting with new concepts, content and coaching behaviors. Therefore, under the ICW or traditional Level 5 ICE model, candidates are often assessed based on personal paddling in the L5 venue, and their ability to teach pre-assigned content in a structured method to peers rather than real students. Our goal is to develop instructors who are both excellent paddlers and highly skilled and creative teachers, instructors and coaches, who upon assessment have the opportunity to work with real students in the Level 5 venue and address their individual needs. ACA L5 AOW IDW Pre-Requisites: · To be eligible for Level 5: Advanced Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor Certification, an individual must be a currently certified Level 4: Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor in good standing for a minimum of 2 years. · Meet the ACA Essential Eligibility Criteria · Meet the General Requirements for ACA Instructor Certification ACA L5 AOW Update Pre-Requisites (minimum): · Teach and Report to the National Office at least two courses that meet the L5 AOW standard within the four year certification period. · Maintain ACA Membership and SEIC Registration annually. · Possess current First Aid and age appropriate CPR credentials. ACA L4 OW Update Pre-Requisites (minimum): Teach and Report to the National Office at least two courses that meet the L4 OW standard within the four year certification period.Maintain ACA Membership and SEIC Registration annually.Possess current First Aid and age appropriate CPR credentials.It is recommended that Instructors participating in the course either as an IDW or Instructor Update demonstrate experience teaching, coaching and paddling in diverse and complex coastal environments and demonstrate the ability to teach/coach a variety of ability levels. While evidence of this is not required a “logbook” is appreciated. Instructional Staff: Josh Hall Outdoor Program Manager Charleston Country Parks and Recreation Commission American Canoe Association Level 5 Instructor Training Educator · Todd A Johnstone-Wright Director of Wilderness Programs/Associate Dean Saint Michael's College British Canoe Union Level 5 Coach Sea American Canoe Association Level 5 Instructor Trainer Educator · John Carmody Owner Sea Cliff Kayakers British Canoe Union Level 5 Coach Sea American Canoe Association Level 5 Instructor Course Fee: $850.00 The course fee includes course materials, instruction, assessment and lodging. It does not include, transport, meals, ACA membership, or SEIC dues. Equipment: For candidates traveling by air boats, paddles and other equipment can be provided, please contact Todd for details. Additional Information/Registration: For additional information or registration materials please contact Todd Johnstone-Wright at twright@smcvt.edu or call 802.238.6664.

Greetings, The ACA Coastal Kayak Comittee has been hard at work developing an openwater trip leader training and assessment which has been recently approved as a pilot program. This curriculum was designed with the needs and input of club trip leaders, outfitters and outdoor educators in mind. For those familiar with the BCU system the requirements, training and assessment are similar in scope to the current BCU 4 Star award but take into consideration the geographic diversity that coastal paddling in North America provides. In an attemt to fine tune the curriculum and solict feedback from the end user/consumer we will be offering a number of trainings in the Northeast followed by assessemnts in the fall of 2012 and spring 2013. The first two pilot trainings have been sponsored by MASKGI (Maine Association of Sea Kayak Guides and Instructors) and they have offered to open these programs up to the general public at the member rate of $275.00 (dates/registration information below). There are no formal prerequsites but particpants should possess at a minimum ACA L3 Personal Skills or BCU 3 Star Skills. If anyone is interested in the course criteria and guidance notes please email directly at twright@smcvt.edu. The instructional staff for the first two pilots are: Todd A Johnstone-Wright Todd is the Director of Wilderness Programs at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont and has worked professionally in outdoor pursuits for since 1993 and has guided and taught throughout North America, South America, Africa and the British Isles. ACA Coastal L5 Instructor Trainer ACA Coastal L4 Instructor Trainer Educator BCU Level 5 Sea Coach Trainee ACA Level 4 Instructor Whitewater and Surf Kayak SOLO WEMT/NR EMT/ SOLO Wilderness Medical Educator Registered Maine Guide/Member of MASKGI Team Paddler P&H Kayak and Werner Paddles John Carmody John is the owner of Sea Cliff Kayakers, Boothbay, Maine and is one of the most accredited sea kayak coaches in North America. John has paddled, guided and coached throughout North America and the United Kingdom. BCU Level 5 Coach Sea ACA Level 5 Coastal Kayak Instructor ACA Level 4 Surf Kayak Instructor SOLO Wilderness First Responder Registered Maine Guide Team Paddler P&H Kayak and Werner Paddle Registration Information: April 30-May 2 based on Hermit Island State Park May 4-6 based at Old Quarry Campground Stonington Contact: Paul Knight mailto:krypto61@hotmail.com to register, Space is extremely limited so please email interest/commitment ASAP.

ACA Level 3/4 Coastal Kayak Instructor Development Workshop (IDW) and Instructor Update Boothbay Region, Maine May 28-31, 2012 Course Fee: $450.00 Course Overview: The L3/4 IDW is a student-centered learning experience focusing on the skills, knowledge and understandings required of a coastal/open water instructor. This course takes a principled based approach to coaching paddlesports skills and knowledge in context, with a focus on differentiated instruction and developing student centered, performance based coaching sessions. Pre-requisites, while the ACA does not require any formal pre-requisites, candidates should be at the ACA Level 3 or Level 4 Coastal Kayaking Skills Assessment standard (bottom of page) or minimum British Canoe Union 3 Star or 4 Star Leader (new scheme) standard, respectively. In addition, candidates are required to be current ACA members at the time of the course. At the end of the course students will leave with a written action plan in addition, to peer and instructor feedback. Space is limited to 8 candidates, for additional information please contact twright@smcvt.edu. Instructors: Todd A Johnstone-Wright Director of Wilderness Programs, Saint Michael's College ACA Coastal L5 IT/L4 ITE, Whitewater L4, Surf Kayak L4 BCU Level 5 Coach Trainee SOLO Wilderness Medicine, Instructor Educator/W-EMT-B NR Carl Ladd Owner/Program Director Osprey Sea and Surf Kayak Adventures, Westport MA ACA Coastal L4 IT, Surf Kayak L4 IT Cheers, Todd A Johnstone-Wright

Correction....Type V PFD...Than you for bringing the typo to my attention...

Doing good CPR under "ideal" conditions is at best a difficult exercise. The success rate for CPR alone on pulseless and breathless (dead) patients without access to advanced cadiac care is very low. The numbers are a bit better for folks who have experienced respitory arrest (drowning leads to respirtory arrest) but are generally in good cardiac health. So the technique question: Rafting up boats: This often seems like the logical choice as we do quite a bit of rafting up in sea kayaks to sort out incidents. The challenege is if you can manage to get wet dead weight (no pun inteneded) up onto the raft, get the PFD off, stradle the patient and do compressions; chances are the compressions will be fairly ineffective. I could'nt find any data on this when developing the H2O curriculum so we gave it a go, bear in mind that this was not a proper study. Using 3 very fit college students, all of whom are competant boaters, and two of whom were EMT's with plenty of real CPR experience, in one foot seas, we attempted to resuce a unresponsive, face down, 200lb dummy (me) wearing a type IV PFD, dry suit and tow belt. Results: It took them 4 minutes to get me onto the raft, once on the raft we substituted a standard Rescue Annie with foam legs and arms for 30 minutes of CPR (wilderness medical society guidelines recommend discontinuning CPR after 30 minutes or earlier if the scene becomes unsafe). Lessons learned: It's really, really hard to get a dead body out of the water, CPR was clumsy and generally ineffective (the dynamic nature of the boats and water absorb too much energy, we roll folks on a backboard in the ambulance to reduce the absorbtion of the 2 inch stretcher pad), also the group is static (at the will of wind, waves and current) when the patient really needs an ambulance (on shore) and finally, water ruins rescue annie's and they are expensive to replace. Other Technique Options: Chest compressions on a seated patient, i.e. bear hug the Patient (without PFD) in a rafted tow enroute to shore, after a Mayday call (giving a precise landing location with ambulance access). Using the same CPR land marks begin compressions. This is better but is still an unweildly task. Take home points: 1. Every year paddlers die from imersion and submersion drowning. Often they have some comonalities NO PFD and INADEQUATE THERMAL PROTECTION. So if we're paddling in groups, dressed properly and wearing a well fitted, sport specific PFDs then our chance of having to give or recieve CPR go down dramatically. 2. Medical Emergencies and Traumatic injuries can be stabilized on the water but are magaged on shore. This has alreay been mentioned "everything is an ariway issue until the group has landed." 3. I have done CPR in the hospital, in helicopters, in ambulances, in grocery stores, in home depot, on construction sites, in living rooms etc but I have yet to do CPR in a kayak (ww, sea or surf) environment. I have had to manage hand blisters, 2 shoulder injuries, 1 brusied/broken ribs, minor sprains and strains, nausea and minor soft tissue injuries in paddling environments. Therefore, while it is useful to think about and practice the "worst care scenario" it is proably most useful to get sound training on how to manage the stuff you'll most likely see. 4. WFA and WFA H2O is useless without a proper incident managment course. A good IM course is'nt a rescue clinic but one that addresses incident avoidence, leadership, planning and implementation. 5. You are more likely to be required to do CPR in a front country setting at work (particullary if you work on Wall Street right now), while shopping etc. So take a CPR class at your local Red Cross, American Heart Association, Fire/Rescue, Hospital, YMCA etc. Redo it every year so that your skills are sharp and don't forget to call 911. 6. If you like to play outdoors or take other's onto the water or into the backcountry take a proper WFA class (SOLO, WMI, WMA) or if you are a boater take a SOLO WFA H2O course (shameless plug). If you take folks outdoors in a professional capacity take a Wilderness First Responder course. I don't check the list's very often so if you have questions please contact me at twright@smcvt.edu. Cheers, Todd

The only dates I currently have available for a WFA H2O is May 3-4. We are offering a number of other SOLO Wilderness Medical Courses here in Vermont, they are listed in Commercial Classified. Cheers, Todd

Greetings, I will be teaching a SOLO WFA at Saint Michael's College on the weekend of April 19-20. SOLO is offerings new course SOLO WFA H2O. We have spent a great deal of time tweaking this curriculum and we are finally happy with it (thank you to folks like Peter Brady that sat through some of the Beta classes). The problem is that I am the only person green lighted to teach it, none the less I do have availability some availability this spring and we could offer the course down in NSPN territory. The WFA H2O was created as a response to feedback from paddlers of all types who at the end of a WFA said "great course but I don't carry a backpack when playing and working and getting someone to an appropriate care environment requires getting them to shore." Therefore, the folks at SOLO and I sat down and looked at the differences. The WFA H2O looks a lot like a WFA but focuses on the management of injury and illness in a marine environment. The course spends a bit more time discussing common paddle related injuries, the scenarios are water based, and folks wear and manage scenarios with paddle specific gear. All of the practical work happens at the waters edge so the course is appropriate for all disciplines and ability levels. CPR is not included but can be added on the evening before or after class the first night (makes for a long day). Generally, inexpensive CPR courses can be found locally through the Red Cross, American Heart Association, Local Recreation Resources, YMCA, Rescue Squads etc... If you have questions contact me at 802.654.2614 or twright@smcvt.edu.