A nice note from Captain John Oliver

[Bait O' Eggs]

Thanks for the info John, Nothing personal but I hope I or any of the other ifishers dont see you on the water this year or any other :shocked: :shocked:

Well as long as you are not in uniform and responding to a call, I would be happy to see you.

But then again if my boat is going down... or, gulp... GONE [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] , I would be more than happy to get a close up look at your badge. :grin:

Thanks for being there when we need you. :smile:

[Hawaiian]

I second that BOE. Thanks John

Hawaiian

[swampy]

Many thanks , Captain , to you and your crew.

Thanks John and Crews! [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

[CATCH AND EAT]

Nice post John. Thanks for being there. What a great service you guys provide. And if needed. You can fish in my boat anytime. Just leave that bright yellow uniform at home. it would scare the fish. :grin:

[GBSkunk]

Thanks Captain and thanks for helping us release that 8' sturgeon below the falls last week! We never would have got that fish up the cliff.

[Drachir]

A couple of weekends ago, saw your 3 man crew heading up river at the top end of the Slab Hole, on the Clack. Your guys were very courteous, and gave my Drift Boat as wide a space as they could. We gave them a friendly wave as they proceeded on their way. We saw them on the return back downriver an hour or so later, in the Dog Hole. I want to say Thank You Very Much, for being out there to help people when they get into trouble.
With the bright yellow color on your boat, it's for sure we know who is on the way upriver.
Thanks Capt. Oliver and your Crew!!! :grin:

[Jennie@ifish]

Jennie

I would be more than happy to post on any safety issues. My open email
address is (waterrescue8@ccfd1.com)if any of your readers have questions.

Here is a little intro if you could use it in anyway. I am the Marine
Program Manager for Clackamas County Fire District #1. My unit responds to
all water rescue calls and many boater assist calls throughout Clackamas
county. We are a member of the Clackamas County Regional Water rescue team
and I sit on the advisory board for such. I am a Oregon Native growing up
with a pole in one hand and a oar/throttle in the other. I am a past
Whitewater jetboat and drift boat instructor for the Oregon State Marine
board and grew up running the Deschutes and Rogue rivers. I currently teach
Whitewater boat operations to fire and police agencies all across the state
including Washington.

My agency operates out of 3 jet boats and is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week with 3 paramedic swimmers onboard. Our station is located on 130th
Ave in Clackamas and all of our boats are on trailers. Normally we are in
the bright yellow jet sled with a inflatable collar but use a 16' Zodiac and
a 21' Weldcraft occasionally. We also have whitewater kayaks that we use on
the smaller rivers which beats swimming. Everyone of our rescue swimmers
meet two national standards for swiftwater rescue and we require anual
recertification for such. The boat operators are state certified and endure
an extensive training regime prior to getting their wings. Each driver has
to spend over 40 hours of hands on instruction and then log 50 more hours of
river time before they can take the test to become a operator.
Unfortunately we have to run the rivers in all kinds of conditions including
the dark so we cut no corners in this process. All operators have to
recertify annually and bi-annualy test the night vision.

As many of your readers are aware we spend many hours out on the river
trying to maintain our standards. We perform many drills at night and non
peak times to minimize the impact on the fishing community. Many of us are
avid outdoors people so we make all attempts to give everybody a wide berth.
Unfortunately we make mistakes and I encourage any of your readers to drop
me a email if we have gotten a little close. Making the river users safe is
our first priortiy, acknowledging we are your guests on the river is our
second.

Our program was started in 1996 and we run approximately 60 water rescue
calls a year. Of those calls last year we pulled 11 people out of the water
and lost 3. The majority of the calls orginate on the Clackamas River and
many happen after dark and during summer water conditions. No life jackets
and Alchohol are our major contributor to deaths. We work closely with the
Clackamas County Sherrifs office and take time to answer any questions in
the field.

Once again I cant stress enough that we are your guests on the river and I
make that a major priortiy!

I hope to see all you out on the river this year and please leave a few fish
for me.

Captain John Oliver
Clackamas County Fire District #1
Station 8
waterrescue8@ccfd1.com