Swift Water Rescue Courses

Swiftwater and Floodwater Rescue is one of the most dangerous rescue scenarios that many in Public Safety face in America. Each year unnecessary deaths and injuries affect potential rescuers as well as the original victims. Basic Swiftwater provides rescue training to Public Safety Professionals such as Fire, Rescue, Law Enforcement, EMS and others interested in Swiftwater or Floodwater safety. Training and education in the specific methods of swiftwater rescue are essential for proper response and safety to the rescuer and patient.

STARR is the ideal choice for your swiftwater and flood rescue training needs. All of our courses are taught by instructors who know the dynamics of swift water. With over 40 years of real-world and federally declared disaster deployment experience, our classes are customized for your environment. While each instructor brings his own skill set to the course, all have spent decades working and teaching on the water. They are truly water enthusiasts. We teach hands on progressive rescue techniques that have been proven to work in the field. All of our curriculums meet NFPA standards.

Swift Water / Food Rescue Awareness
Swift Water / Flood Rescue Operations
Swift Water / Flood Rescue Technician
Rescue Swimmer / Inland Swimmer
Water Safety & Survival
Vehicle In-Water Rescue (Coming in 2026)
Officer Water Survival Course (Coming in 2026)

Swift Water Flood Rescue AWARENESS

This course is designed for all emergency services personnel, municipal and utility employees, outdoor professionals, and anyone who may respond to water incidents. Responders must be able to recognize risks and dangers, and be able to take appropriate action to ensure personal, team, and scene safety.

In the Awareness program, we will address the need for water search and rescue, scene safety, assessment and management, activation of the Emergency Response System, training and resources needed to perform water operations, and rescue vs. recovery operations.

The course content meets NFPA 1006, 1021, & 2500 – Standards on Operations and Training for Technical Rescue Incidents –Water Search and Rescue – Awareness Level.

No Prerequisites

Swift Water Flood Rescue OPERATIONS

This course is designed to provide students with both a theoretical and practical knowledge of the basics of swiftwater rescue. The class includes classroom instruction and practical field exercises.

Students are trained in hazard recognition, equipment use, and basic shore and boat-based rescue techniques, as well as a wide variety of other skills. After completing this course, personnel will also be able to be in the support role for technician level rescuers in higher risk technical water rescues.

The course content meets NFPA 1006, 1021, & 2500 – Standards on Operations and Training for Technical Rescue Incidents –Water Search and Rescue – Operations Level.

PREREQUISTES:

Must have completed an Awareness course in last 18 months

300 meter swim in 12 minutes using any stroke.

Swift Water Flood Rescue TECHICIAN

The SRT course provides rescuers with the fundamentals of survival in moving water and is recommended for anyone who may be called upon to effect in-water rescues. Students gain knowledge in hydrology and river classifications, size-up, site control and scene management. Practical skills include self-rescue, swiftwater swimming and the fundamentals of shore, boat and in-water rescues. Additionally students are introduced to the basics of boat handling and the fundamentals of rope rescue including mechanical advantage and anchor systems.

The course content meets NFPA 1006, 1021, & 2500 - Standards on Operations and Training for Technical Rescue Incidents - Water Search and Rescue - Technician Level.

PEREQUISTES:

Must have competed an Awareness and Operations course in last 24 months

Must have completed a supervised (preapproved by STARR) 300 meter swim in 12 minutes using any stroke.

Rescue / In land Swimmer

This class is aimed for students rescuing in a surface water and/or inland open water environment such as lakes or ponds of various sizes, as well as flatwater rivers and park waterfronts. The Surface Water Rescue Swimmer course will help rescuers improve their swimming technique, practice victim management and rescue. A strong emphasis is also placed on dealing with victims in the open water and searching for victims in an open water/surface water environment.

This course follows the requirements outlined in NFPA 1006 Chapter 17 (2021 version) and NFPA 1670 Chapter 16 (2022 NFPA 2500 version).

Water Safety & Survival

This class is designed for industrial, construction, oil & gas industry and commercial applications. The course addresses the specific problems encountered when working on, over, or adjacent to water.

This is a performance based (classroom & practical skills) program is estimated at 8 hours. The class is designed to meet and exceed the industrial requirements of OSHA 1926.106. Our program provides the essential knowledge and awareness training to allow your employees to travel and perform their work in small groups on or near coastal waterways and in remote settings safely and effectively.

Vehicle In-Water Rescue

This class is designed for Swift Water / Flood Rescue Technicians to explore and learn skills required to deal with vehicles in moving water. The course looks at vehicle behavior and basic stabilization in water, as well as access techniques and victim extrication. Vehicle hydrology, glass management, anchors, and weight transfer are all addressed in this two-day hands on course.

Officer Water Survival

This class is designed for prepares officers for the unexpected immersion into the water. A key element of this course will be the preparation of participants to become proficient in water survival skills and awareness on how to modify both duty and survival equipment to increase their chances of survival.

This two-day/16-hour course will focus on the basic elements of the Officer Water Survival Course. Participants in this course will be participating in swimming, treading and other drills in uniform, with body armor and a simulated duty belt. This course is physically challenging and is not designed to teach a person how to swim or tread water. In addition, students should be familiar with and have a basic skill to swim using front crawl/free style stroke, breast stroke, side stroke and swimming underwater.

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Our goal is to provide the BEST Customer Service and BEST Affordable Prices. Please provide the information requested below along with the course(s) you would like to have quoted. We will get back to you as quick as possible during business hours. After hours request may take a little longer.