During the Deception Pass Dash I was engaged in my duties on the bridge
as the Safety Director for the race when there was the need for an assisted rescue
in site of my position. The spectator standing next me became upset
thinking the capsized paddler was in great danger.
A short discussion
with her following the rescue found that her PERCEPTION of the rescue
was indeed much more serious than mine. Living in the area, she's heard
many stories about incidents in the Pass, but never had first hand
experience with the waters. Those stories have led her to believe that
being in the water in DP would be certain death. She rarely ever stopped
on the bridge, but heard about the race and stopped to watch. When I
told her that skilled sea kayakers trained and played here all the time she
looked at me like I was
crazy.
Leaders
and Instructors with a great deal of training and experience have a much
different perception of engagements that students see as incidents.
I've had these discussions with the Tacoma Mountaineers SK program
Leadership committee when they were developing their standards for
leaders. The presentation below is a little slow, but it addresses the
issue of PERCEPTION.
In my past career, perception vs reality was much
more closely aligned, as the teams I worked with were all of similar
training and experience. We needed to know how each other were going to
react when the shit hit the fan so we trained together in extreme
environments. It was no place for the amatures.
On the water, my
perception of what is going on is much different than many because of my
training and experience in both my past career and as the
leader/teacher with 1000s of hours of seat time in a seakayak. For you
all
starting out or as a new instructor/leader, keep this in mind. Everyone
sees things differently.
