$850
Additional costs:
SEIC dues $25/year
ACA Membership $40/year
For more information, contact Jordan to inquire.
Be the next generation of Rescue Instructors!
Learn dynamic ways to teach and drill the skills that crews need when it gets “real” on the river. This 6 day program includes two three day weekend training periods with the chance to plan and practice in between. Co taught Trainers Jordan Taylor and Nik White.
Phase 1, Instructor Development, 3 days, 9/11-13
You will learn everything you need to know about how to administer and instruct a rescue course. Nik and Jordan will offer clear models of how to present skills, run drills and manage risk. You will start practicing designing your own rescue scenarios and practicing your presentations of these same skills. Day 4 is off for rest and practice.
Phase 2, Rest, reflect, train, plan, 9/14-19
Phase 3, Instructor Certification Exam
This is where you get a chance to apply everything by presenting to your peers and your IT’s. You will get to workshop the scenarios and drills you’ve been designing. By the end of this phase you are expected to demonstrate independence and resilience. Some of the topics you teach will be well prepped with lots of warning but you will also be “tested” on your ability to teach topics without prep.
About your Trainers:
Nik is the Owner of Whitewater Workshop and is hosting this training. Nik has been instructing whitewater kayaking for over 15 years. He is a certified ACA Instructor in Whitewater Kayaking, Packrafting, and Swiftwater Rescue. He learned to kayak at Wilderness Voyageurs on the Yough River outside Pittsburgh and has kayaked and rafted rivers all over the world, including trips to Alaska, Mexico, France, and Peru. He consistently does over a month of overnight boating trips on multi-day rivers every year (which unfortunately means he might be out of service for a couple weeks here and there every year!). Nik was the ACA National Instructor of the Month in October 2023. He presented at the 2023 National Swiftwater Rescue Conference. He is on the curriculum committees with the ACA for Whitewater Kayaking, Packrafting, and Swiftwater Rescue. All in all, he is one of the most experienced and prolific instructors in the US.
Jordan Taylor is the owner of Paddlesport Institute in Washington DC, which specializes in Rescue and Instructor Development. Jordan has been instructing for over 30 years and starting in 2013 has been serving the industry primarily in an Instructor Development role including for schools/orgs like NOLS, Outward Bound, the Madawaska Kanu Centre (Ontario) the Calleva River School (DC), the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center (CO) and the Davidson College Outdoor Program (NC). Taylor is on the American Canoe Association’s Safety & Rescue Committee and serves the ACA as an L4 Rescue Instructor Trainer and L5 Instructor, and presented at the 2025 Swiftwater Rescue Conference on Night Operations. He teaches for NOLS and Sierra Rescue and is on the Astral Pro Rescue Team. He is also a Trainer Educator in Canoe and Kayak.