Winter & Ice Safety Program

4-Day Program (ages 14+)

On the 4-day program, youth build skills for safe travel on frozen lakes and rivers.

The package puts together everything communities have asked for — whether you're planning a winter journey — or just want a great land-based program.

Group:

• Up to 20 youth
• 3 local guides/knowledge keepers/educators from the community
• 3 Boreal River instructors

Participants gain:

• Lifelong skills & confidence
• Certification
• Winter Safety Kit and takeaways

1. Ice Safety & Rescue (ISR) 2-day certification course

*We provide waterproof survival suits to stay warm while training

Topics covered:

• Ice thickness assessment
• How to 'read' the ice
• Self-rescue practice
• Rescuing others
• How to use tools for ice safety, testing, and rescues
• Rescue scenarios

Your youth will learn new techniques — and have the opportunity to practice their existing skills on the land.

2. Winter Wilderness Safety 2-day certification course

*Topics customized to your group and needs

• Trip planning, communications, equipment considerations, etc...
• First aid topics: 'stop the bleed', splinting hypothermia, frostbite, lifting-moving-extrication, allergies and anaphylaxis, choking, heart attack, and more
• Scene management
• Evacuation practice
• Snowmobile safety considerations

3. Takeaway equipment and recognition

Each participant receives:

• Winter Safety Kit including: ice picks, whistle, throw bag with 18 m rescue rope, tourniquet (Cat-Gen-7), light emergency shelter (Rab Bothy Bag)
• Boreal River Rescue toque or ball cap
• Digital certification cards, stickers
• Wall certificate with photo

4. In-community prep day

Our instructors spend a full day in your community before the course to:

• Scout training site
• Prepare logistics
• Meet the local guides, educators, and organizers

Together, we discuss how to customize the training for your community and your land.

With your local guides, we plan how to incorporate their mentoring and teaching into the program.

Our instructors are flexible — we adapt the techniques to your practices and traditions.

5. Introductory briefing

The afternoon before the training, we have a session with interested participants where we:

• Meet each other
• Talk about what to expect on the course
• See and get hands-on with the safety equipment

6. Travel delays built-in

We always plan plan extra time for travel so participants don't miss out on training, if instructor travel takes longer than expected.

Example, if the 4-day program is Tuesday to Friday:

• Friday/Saturday: instructors travel to your community
• Sunday: extra day for travel delays
• Monday: in community prep day with local guides and info meeting for participants
• Tuesday to Friday: 4-day program

7. All course training equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is provided

• Ice rescue suits, PFD's, and helmets
• Ropes, ice testing equipment, rescue equipment
• Course safety gear, first aid kits, satellite phone, hypothermia wrap

8. Consultation: 8 hours of program overview and risk management advice

The program includes consultation for organizers of your other land-based programs.

This can take place remotely or in-person, before or after the youth program.

• 8 hours total, led by a senior instructor
• Intake survey or call to confirm your goals
• Your choice of 3 x 60-minute meetings or 2 x 90-minute meetings, plus 5 hours of background work (research, document review, drafting, and outreach to our expert network).
• Private to your organization — invite the right stakeholders; sessions can be recorded on request, and we can provide summary notes.
• Delivered in English or French

9. Grants and funding applications

We have talented and experienced office staff who can help your admin team with applications and paperwork.

We can work with you to meet grant guidelines, sharing what we've learned with other communities and program applications.

1. Follow-up practice sessions

If you have us back for summer training or the next winter training within 1 year, we'll provide a free day of water rescue and first aid review and practice scenarios for your community members who participated in the last training.

Repeating and reviewing rescue techniques several months after the initial training helps youth retain skills and knowledge for the long term.

We're happy to discuss options for this and explore ideas for continuing education, practice, and confidence-building.

2. High school credits

A teacher at your local high school can make this program into a high school credit.

The teacher needs to:

• Get the principal's approval
• Allocate class time (or additional land time) after the training for a follow-up project to complete the learning hours
• Do the grading, etc.

We provide:

• A ready-to-use template for the teacher to utilize
• A course outline, keyed to provincial high school curriculum
• Lesson plans for in-class projects (media project, reflection project) that the teacher can use to complete the credit hours

3. Elementary school session

• While our instructors are in the area we can run a short and fun session at a local elementary school
• 1-hour presentation on winter and ice safety
• Can be indoors or outdoors

9-Day Program (ages 16+)

The 9-day program includes everything in the 4-day program, plus an additional 5-days of training with:

• Up to 40-hour Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course
• CPR C (adult, child, infant) and AED certification
• Curriculum materials, textbooks, and certification from Wilderness Medical Associates International
• Hands-on training with realistic scenarios to — to manage medical problems for hours or days until help arrives

Cost

$1,895 to $2,895 per person, depending on the group size

Included in the price

4 or 9 days of training for 12 youth and 3 local guides/knowledge keepers/educators with 3 Boreal River Rescue instructors.

See details above for all training, equipment, participant kits, certifications, and consultation services included in this package

Not Included

• Instructor travel costs
• Instructor lodging and meal per diem (as per
your local standard rates)
• Equipment shipping

Package any of the following with the youth program

• 4-Rescuer Ice Gear Package (survival suits, helmets, PFDs, ropes, hardware, etc.)
• Snowmobile Operator and Safety Course (2-day)
• Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) or Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course for your staff or youth
• Youth summer program: River Expedition Leadership and Safety*
• High school credit canoe trip

*10% of both the summer and winter youth programs when you host both in the same year