Swiftwater Rescue Conference

A full-time outdoor skills educator working internationally, Tom is focused on the development of powerful and effective methods of experiential learning.

In 2015, Tom received the ACA’s “Excellence in Instruction” award, and has been nationally recognized among the “Best of the Best” of Swiftwater Rescue Instructors. From his start in emergency services in 1990, through his current position as the Team leader of the Washington CO. AR Wilderness Search and Rescue team, his focus on technical skills and rescue techniques has been a lifetime passion. As a NREMT / WEMT, he functions as medical support and safety on expeditions and large paddling events. Tom is an American Canoe Association (ACA) L-4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor Trainer Educator, L-5 Advanced Swiftwater Rescue Instructor Trainer Educator and L-4 Rafting Instructor Trainer. In his role as an Educator for the ACA, Tom chairs the ACA’s Safety and Rescue Discipline Committee, which provides oversight and curriculum development for the ACA’s Safety and Rescue programs and is a foundational member / SWR 3-V Instructor for the International Technical Rescue Association (ITRA). As a wilderness medicine instructor for Sierra Rescue International, he instructs SRI courses throughout the country and he provides risk management services to numerous organizations. He is also an Instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission and helped develop the original Small Party Self Rescue curriculum. Tom’s programs employ an experiential teaching style that keeps folks interested and involved.

Stephanie is an emergency medicine physician at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke Virginia and Professor at the VT-Carilion School of Medicine. She is the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship Director at VT-Carilion. Stephanie earned the Fellowship of Wilderness Medicine and Diploma in Mountain Medicine. She is the president of the Wilderness Medical Society.
She is a certified Level 4 Swift Water Rescue Instructor through the ACA and serves on the Swiftwater rescue committee. She is a WMP course designer and instructor. She is also a WFA and CPR/AED instructor through ECSI. She has published in textbooks and journals on drowning resuscitation. She is on the editorial board and is the education section editor of the Wilderness Environmental Medicine Journal. Outdoors, Stephanie enjoys mountain biking, sailing, SUPing, rafting, skiing, horseback riding and SCUBA diving.

During his summers in high school, Don went to camps in Canada and Colorado which started him backpacking and climbing many of the 14000 ft mountains in Colorado. Don spent the last 15 years guiding rivers in CA, OR, West Virginia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and the Southwest. For several years, he was logging 150+ days on river! In addition to his time on the water, he spent 2 years working as a full time firefighter/EMT with Rocklin Fire Department. Don took an 81 Day Multi Environment Outward Bound Course and a Wilderness EMT in Yosemite with WMI of NOLS. It was during this course that he first met Julie Munger, owner of Sierra Rescue, for the first time.

Don has been working with Sierra Rescue for 13 years, and is an American Canoe Association Swiftwater Rescue Instructor and an American CPR Instructor.  When asked why he became a rescue instructor Lester responded, “I love teaching rescue courses because I want people to learn from the mistakes I have made without having to make them themselves.  I enjoy trying to bring the word and actions of a professional back to the boating world.  It seems to have gotten lost somewhere.”

CJ is an ACA L4 SWR Instructor, Emergency Medicine and Wilderness Medicine Doc in Southwest Virginia. He enjoys outdoor education, training medical personnel in outdoor applications, technical rescue and teaching laypersons wilderness medicine. He works in the Emergency Departments at Carilion, as an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech, Assistant Program Director for the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship, and a volunteer technical rescuer with local Fire/EMS.  CJ has a special interest in hypothermia.

Glenn is an ACA L4 Whitewater Kayak IT, L4 Whitewater Canoe Instructor and L4 Swiftwater Instructor. Glenn has worked for the State of Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for more than 18 years, where he leads DNR’s paddling instructional programs. In addition to instruction, Glenn has been involved in all aspects of 36 dam removal or modification projects, including 5 such projects that have resulted in whitewater play features. He has also completed a number of streambank restoration projects throughout the state. Glenn is passionate not only about instruction but also about river quality and restoration.

Justin S. Padgett, M.S., Paramedic, WEMT, is the Executive Director of Landmark Learning, a school dedicated to the education of outdoor medical and rescue skills, located in the mountains of North Carolina. Justin has been an ACA paddling instructor since the late 1990s in several disciplines. As a Level 5 Safety and Rescue Instructor, Justin has taught student and instructor-level courses across North and South America; however, you’re more likely to find him teaching in the streams and creeks of Western North Carolina. His new SWR book, entitled *Swiftwater Rescue: A Manual for Students and Instructors*, is now available to the public as a complement to the ACA’s Safety and Rescue curriculum. I look forward to seeing you at the conference!

Jordan Taylor (he/they) has over thirty years of experience instructing whitewater and has served many organizations in an instructor development role: Davidson College Outdoor Program (NC) The Calleva River School (DC), National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center (CO), Zoar Outdoor (MA), Madawaska Canoe Center (Ontario) and others. Jordan holds an L4 Safety & Rescue IT certification and an L5 Instructor certification. They are an ITE in Kayak and Canoe. Suping makes them fall down, a lot. Taylor is passionate about educational spaces designed with lots of different kinds of people in mind.

To read more about Jordan you can visit www.paddlesportinstitute.com.

Henderson is an ACA Level 4 Swiftwater Rescue Instructor, and former commercial rafting guide who enjoys spending time on the water with friends and family in a variety of crafts.

He is an Emergency Physician with decades of experience instructing and delivering care in a variety of environments whose day job is Professor of Emergency Medicine, Medical Director of AirCare Critical Care Transport Services and Program Director of the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship at Wake Forest.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, he makes the most of his local waters on the James River while also paddling and instructing throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Appalachian regions. His instructional reach extends through his business, Fall Line River School, where he offers a comprehensive range of courses in whitewater paddling, swiftwater rescue, and wilderness medicine.

Growing up in a flood-prone river town near a low-head dam, river safety was a serious topic in Karl’s household. His parents introduced him to paddling early, taking him and his brother out on local waterways and teaching them the basics of water safety. It wasn’t until college, though, that Karl’s paddling interests intensified. He became a raft guide, and soon whitewater kayaking became a passion. The community, the rivers, and the shared sense of purpose all drew him in.

Karl’s career in the outdoor industry was a natural extension of his love for paddling. “I already knew I wanted to work in the outdoor industry by the time I started whitewater kayaking,” he says. Through years of work, mentorship, and ongoing education, he built a professional path that allows him to share his knowledge of rivers and safety with others.

Jim Coffey is the Director of R3-Rescue for River Runners as well as Esprit Whitewater. He has been leading whitewater based adventure tours and training in over 30 countries worldwide. He is an international whitewater ambassador who has challenged and pushed industry standards in Whitewater Rescue.

Nik White runs Whitewater Workshop in Golden, Colorado where he teaches swiftwater rescue skills to over 100 people a year. He was the October 2023 Instructor of the Year and is also the Access and Conservation director for Colorado Whitewater, the largest whitewater paddling club in the Western US. He is an ACA L5 Swiftwater Rescue Instructor, L4 Whitewater Kayak Instructor Trainer, L5 Whitewater Kayak Instructor, and L3 Packraft Instructor.

Robin has been involved with water rescue for more than 4 decades, starting as a lifeguard and then adding sailing and paddling.  He’s a level 5 ITE in swiftwater rescue and river kayak who has been deeply involved in ACA leadership, public policy work, and curriculum development.  Robin also works with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and has published several in-depth analyses of boating fatalities.  He combines research experience, work as a physician assistant, and a longstanding passion for paddling and aquatics safety to teach swiftwater rescue programs that focus on core evidence-based principles.