POST FALLS - When it comes to swift water rescue training, nothing can replace on-the-job experience.

Thirteen North Idaho College students recently completed the college's first whitewater rescue course to improve their knowledge and capabilities for real-life scenarios.

"It's extremely challenging and really intense," said Kathlene Withycombe, a student from Coeur d'Alene.

As a licensed whitewater guide, it was the training Withycombe was looking for as the next step in her career.

"A lot of companies will give you a bonus if you have this certificate that says, 'This person has extra training,'" Withycombe said. "I was interested in moving up in the industry."

Some outdoors guide companies require their employees to have a whitewater rescue certificate.

As much as Withycombe enjoys the adrenaline rush of being on swift water, she said it's also important to be calm during rescue situations.

Taught by instructors Paul Chivvis and Jonah Breuchaud, the class is part of NIC's Outdoor Leadership program. It featured different rescue scenarios in multiple locations, including on the Spokane River.

It covers how to minimize risks that lead to dangerous situations, developing pulley systems using whatever geographic features are available to pull boats out of the water, rescuing swimmers, rappelling off cliffs, rope techniques and setting up a rescue operation.

Coeur d'Alene's Mike Shaw said he took the course because he plans to work for the Bureau of Land Management and is interested in search and rescue.

"There's a lot of lakes and rivers in this area and I didn't have too much rescue knowledge," he said. "I like to help people and this is a very hands-on course. I learn better hands on than hitting the books. It was definitely very physical."

Students learned how cold water can be a challenge not only to victims but rescuers. Many of the exercises required getting into the river.

"I never thought your hands would become so cold that it would affect your memory as well," Shaw said. "It added to the stress of needing to hurry up."

Chivvis said the class is intended to give students confidence in rescue situations. A faster rescue isn't always as critical as a well-planned, efficient operation, he said.

"They often feel they have to go so fast, but we encourage them to look at the situation as a whole," Chivvis said.

"The students who are cool and calm really do well."

But some of the exercises are timed, creating a delicate balance of speed vs. efficiency in the rescue.

"We purposely make it as stressful as possible and sometimes the pressure gets to them," Chivvis said.

Guiding principles to a swift water rescue include:

• speech, establishing contact with the victim and seeing if they can move to a safer location;

• reach, assessing the best way to reach the victim;

• throw, throw them a rope or other rescue device if possible;

• row, you may have to row to the victim if you can't throw a rope; and

• go, the rescuer may enter the water themselves if it's deemed safe and there's no other rescue alternative.

Breuchaud said leaders step back for a basic scene investigation first before diving in to be the hero.

"The last thing you want to do is complicate things by creating another victim," he said.