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EnglishWhere Paddlers Find River Safety Information on the American Whitewater Website
Updated
American Whitewater puts its river-safety material in the Safety section of the site menu. From that one hub you can reach the Safety Code, the International Scale of River Difficulty, the Accident Database, Biannual Accident Summaries, the Report an Accident form, Safety Videos, and Signage and Rescue & Risk Management resources. It is the first place to look whether you are planning a run, checking how a rapid is rated, or reviewing what went wrong in past incidents.
What the Safety section contains
The site navigation lists these entries under Safety:
| Resource | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Safety Code | The organization's baseline guidance for boating safely |
| International Scale of River Difficulty | The class I–VI system used to rate river difficulty |
| Accident Database | A searchable record of reported paddling accidents |
| Biannual Accident Summaries | Periodic write-ups that pull together accident data |
| Report an Accident | The entry point for submitting an incident |
| Safety Videos | Video-based safety instruction |
| Signage | Information on river signage |
| Rescue & Risk Management | Material on rescue practice and managing risk |
How to use it for a specific task
Before a trip: open the International Scale of River Difficulty to interpret the class rating of the run you are considering, and read the Safety Code for the organization's general expectations. These are reference pages, not a substitute for local beta or your own judgment.
After an incident or near-miss: use Report an Accident to submit what happened. The Accident Database and Biannual Accident Summaries are where you go to read up on patterns and past events — useful for trip planning and for club or safety briefings.
For training or signage questions: Safety Videos and the Signage and Rescue & Risk Management pages sit in the same section, so you do not need to hunt through other parts of the site.
Where this fits in the wider site
The Safety section is one of several top-level areas alongside News, River Info, Our Work, Events, Resources, and Support. If your question is about flows, access, or dam removal rather than safety, those live under Our Work and River Info. Membership is separate: the homepage shows a membership count and Join/Renew and Donate links, but the safety pages themselves are presented as public navigation items, and the site materials do not state any login requirement for them.
One caveat worth stating plainly: the site describes its mission as protecting and restoring whitewater rivers and enhancing opportunities to enjoy them safely, and its safety pages are informational. They do not replace on-site decisions, local knowledge, or formal rescue training.