Even if it's just a knot that needs a little massaging, you've improved the survivability of your friends and the victim. If after applying your very critical eye to someone else's work you do not find any thing wrong with it, well, that just means things are going better than expected. For this reason SARA has developed, in cooperation with other agencies, proven techniques and procedures for saving lives and preventing rescuer deaths. These concepts are well covered in the various yearly training sessions, so only a few key points will be mentioned here. The following are the essential concepts upon which successful River Rescues are planned.
Safety is always something well beyond the first thing to be considered.
The safety of the rescuers is absolutely paramount in all aspects of River Rescue. These four steps describe a process of risk escalation in the rescue of a victim. Going into the water requires the rest. Well up stream of the rescue site personnel should be carefully monitoring the water level and reporting all changes to the Operations Leader. Remember that flash flooding is commonly caused by distant and unseen rain.