Alaska Rescue is an Alaska based company providing safety and rescue training and certification. Dick Rice is the owner and operator of the company, and a 40-year Alaskan. Alaska Rescue is recognized statewide and throughout the Pacific Northwest for providing specialized and relevant “hands on” training for fire departments, rescue teams, refineries and other industrial companies interested in being NIMS, NFPA and/or OSHA compliant in a variety of technical fields including water rescue, industrial rope rescue, technical rope rescue, ice rescue, and motorized and non-motorized boat handling.
Alaska Rescue also provides customized safety training for seasonal and year round research and/or government land management staff working in remote settings. All remote travel, whether single day or multi-day operations, entail some risk. Remote boat travel is always dependent on the conditions encountered in the field and requires risk management to be done “on the fly” in a constantly changing environment. This is true everywhere, but particularly in the cold waters of remote, uninhabited Alaska. Regardless of the size or complexity of the trip, the scale of Alaska’s remoteness and the very cold water adds additional elements of risk to the hazards of travel by boat.
Work performed on or adjacent to the water is different from work performed on land. The vast array of hazards and job site requirements, and the skills required to protect workers in a variety of water environments including ponds, lakes, rivers and near coastal environments, is different as well. Safety is paramount in remote settings. If any member of the remote team does not have the knowledge, skill or experience to recognize hazards, it can put the entire team at higher risk. We specialize in providing customized & internationally recognized safety and survival training curriculum to address the needs and the specific problems encountered by private paddlers, guiding companies, or State or Federal agency employees. We focus on the specific water craft used in the course of participants’ work including non-motorized boats ( sea kayaks, pack rafts, canoes, white-water rafts) and/or motorized boats (jet or prop) for work in the backcountry.
Alaska Rescue is a U.S. Coast Guard approved school for the “Restricted OUPV Guide on the Freshwater and Rivers of Western Alaska” captains license. This license is targeted for the fishing lodge guides operating motorized boats carrying passengers for hire. Dick is an adjunct faculty member with the University of Alaska Ketchikan’s Maritime Division and also teaches Coast Guard approved “6 Pack” OUPV and the 100 Ton Masters Courses. Because these courses are recognized and approved by the USCG, Dick can administer the USCG exams during the course.