Dad killed while whitewater rafting with son's troop in Maine.

[RememberSchiff]

http://www.myfoxboston.com/news/father-killed-while-whitewater-rafting-with-sons-boy-scout-troop/287994490

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dad-chaperoning-boy-scout-trip-to-maine-dies-in-rafting-accident/

 

Michael Arena, 52, of Lexington, Massachusetts, was on a commercial rafting trip Saturday when he tumbled out as the raft traveled through rapids on the Dead River, said Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service.

 

Arena was one of two chaperones overseeing a group of four scouts that included his son; also on the raft was a guide employed by North Country Rivers, MacDonald said.

 

Arena and the other members of Troop 160 were on the Dead River Saturday during a scheduled release which raised the water in the river and upgraded the rapids to Level IV.

 

The American Whitewater Association calls Class IV Rapids advanced saying "Risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult."

 

Peace

[Beavah]

Yah, sad case.  Hug your kids, eh?   Havin' helped a few troops through loss of a parent on a trip (never a youth, thank the Great Scoutmaster), I know these can be really hard.   Seems like from other accounts the other leader on the trip did a good job takin' care of the man's son on the worst day of the lad's life.  Scout salute to him.

 

Beavah

[scoutldr]

Sounds like they have a case of negligence on the part of the guide and the Outfitters. If it was a "scheduled release" the outfitters should have known about it and canceled the trip.

 

Prayers for the family of the Brother Scouter. He's with the Great Scoutmaster now.

[Krampus]

Sounds like they have a case of negligence on the part of the guide and the Outfitters. If it was a "scheduled release" the outfitters should have known about it and canceled the trip.

 

Prayers for the family of the Brother Scouter. He's with the Great Scoutmaster now.

 

I can feel for the unit, especially given recent personal events.

 

However, as Scouters we should do our own research and know what we are putting our unit in to. NOAA has a great site that allows you to find out the flow and predicted flow for most rivers in the US.

 

We recently cancelled our canoe trip because the flow rate was well above what was suggested for novice canoeists. That increased flow rate turned Class I-II rapids to Class IV rapids; the max flow for that river was 2,000/cfs and went as high as 19,000/cfs.

 

While I feel for those involved, one has to ask the question, "We're the people involved trained for Class IV rapids?" And yes, the outfitter bears responsibility for taking folks on that river that may not have been prepared for that level of difficulty.

 

A sad, sad experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Krampus

[Tatung42]

This death just sounds like a tragic accident.  Rafting is a high risk activity and even if you do everything right, there is a chance of injury or death.

 

Normally you purposelessly raft on the rivers during scheduled releases in order to hit your desired flows.  To suggest that they were somehow caught off guard by unexpected high flows is silly.  I suspect that they knew exactly what the flows were going to be.

[Krampus]

This death just sounds like a tragic accident.  Rafting is a high risk activity and even if you do everything right, there is a chance of injury or death.

 

Normally you purposelessly raft on the rivers during scheduled releases in order to hit your desired flows.  To suggest that they were somehow caught off guard by unexpected high flows is silly.  I suspect that they knew exactly what the flows were going to be.

 

Sadly I wish that were true. When you look at accident reports for S&R teams, in many instances the people on the river were beyond their level of expertise or the outfitter erred in some manner. It is not silly, it does happen...often. People may not be strong swimmers. They may be expert for Class II but not IV. All sorts of things can happen.

 

To be clear, I am not saying that is the case here. What I said was that we as Scouters should do our own research, know what we are getting in to, know our options and plan according. Please don't read in to my post that I was in some way blaming the adults on this trek. Any accident will raise questions. That's how we learn the truth. Every police investigation begins with hard questions so things are ruled out. That was merely my point.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Krampus

[Beavah]

Sounds like they have a case of negligence on the part of the guide and the Outfitters. If it was a "scheduled release" the outfitters should have known about it and canceled the trip.

 

Yah, hmmm....

 

Perhaps some explanation is in order for da non-paddlers, eh?   A scheduled release on a dam-fed river is often when it becomes whitewater (and fun).  In this case, da outfitter might have canceled if there was not a release from the dam, because it would have become an easy run to do in canoes rather than somethin' yeh want to take big rubber rafts on.   Sometimes, rivers become too shallow or more dangerous without a dam release.

 

This river like many others gets really busy when there are scheduled releases, eh?  Lots and lots of boats out.   Havin' one fellow get killed out of that many boaters is really just a freak accident, eh?  Part of da baseline risk of the activity.   Could be when the raft tipped he hit his head, or got stunned/panicked, or had a heart attack, or got whacked by da paddle of the boy sittin' next to him.  Could be he got caught in a hydraulic or hung up in a freakish way on a rock or log underwater.   Could be on a busy river he got trapped under another group's raft. 

 

Nuthin' here looks like negligence by the outfitter. 

 

Beavah

[RememberSchiff]

The Maine Warden Service is investigating. The cause of death has not been determined.