The big picture

OFA day 1 for a group who have slowly but surely become one of my favs; they appear to like me as my training course is apparently now mandatory.

They are all paddle leaders, coaches, instructors. They've a very real understanding of things going wrong. As a (very) large collective they've had tragedy, a near miracle rescue and recovery* and a lot of near misses.

They know a lot of this stuff, half of them are revalidating their qualification with me for the second time. 
But. 
They're good at what they do... And unpractised skills fade, difficult choices and incidents can overwhelm or overwrite. So a lot of this is about getting them to follow a procedure, to pack away instant reaction and implement thought through action. 
When it happens for real and the adrenaline spikes a lot of stuff gets forgotten, when the sense of emergency takes over, the world around you starts to fade, your focus can get very narrow. And it happens to everyone, me included.
So... Safe Simple Systems. Follow the plan.

We started by running. Let's walk. We set off without the kit, let's not. We started without gloves. Let's look after ourselves, pause and really assess the danger. 

Tomorrow we might remember to shout for help lol. 

*Ten years ago we'd have had no explanation for how G stayed submerged for 40minures and survived. It's phenomenally rare. Amazing he's here to share his tale.