To the City of Raleigh:

I am writing on behalf of South Orange Rescue Squad and its group of Rescue 3 International

Swiftwater Rescue Instructors to express support of the creation of the Falls Whitewater Park.

For more than fifteen years, South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS) has taught Swiftwater

Rescue Technician classes to emergency responders throughout central North Carolina. Class

attendees have come from agencies serving the citizens of Burlington, Cary, Chapel Hill,

Carrboro, Durham, Greensboro, and Raleigh as well as numerous other communities in

Alamance, Chatham, Guilford, Orange, and Wake Counties – to name just a few. SORS

instructors have also taught students from Virginia, Oregon, Maine, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The primary objectives of the swiftwater rescue technician program are to teach the students

personal safety as well as how to operate as a team in moving water under various conditions to

affect the rescue of someone in danger. To achieve the most success, instructors must place

the students in “big water” while ensuring a safe environment. Construction of a multi-rapid

course where water levels and flows can be maintained at a reliable level would provide a

strong environment for the students to build experience operating as a team in situations similar

to those they would be called on to perform rescues in. Construction of a single rapid could

have the potential to build over confident rescuers that would excel at operating in that particular

rapid but not have the experience and benefits of having trained on multiple different rapids with

varying hydrology, composition, and features.

Most recently everyone in North Carolina has become familiar with the effects of drought. Low

river levels make it extremely difficult to maintain water rescue proficiency for our stateʼs

emergency responders. Construction of a long course that channels available water to

efficiently create multiple rapids like the one proposed by the Falls Whitewater Park Committee

would provide a nearly year-round training site.

Iʼm ecstatic about the proposal for the Falls Whitewater Park and the support thus far and am

looking forward to training and teaching at the Park once complete.

Sincerely,

Matthew Mauzy

Chief, South Orange Rescue Squad

Independent Instructor, Rescue 3 International