The Swiftwater & Flood Rescue Program includes all TEEX courses relevant to providing rescue operations in and around static or fast moving water. The courses are appropriate for responders who are responsible to respond during flooding of local rivers and tributaries in both an urban and rural environment.

Texas has more swiftwater related civilian deaths than any other state in the nation. The power of water during a flood is relentless and unyielding, and responders must be prepared. These courses prepare responders to safely perform swiftwater and flood related rescues. Each course provides the participant with valuable knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to successfully perform rescues in various types of incidents due to rain or hurricanes, including urban flooding, rural flooding, wide area flooding, and catastrophic levee or dam failure.

Each course is designed by module and includes terminal and enabling objectives for participants to accomplish. TEEX courses are designed around current revisions to the National Response Framework and National Incident Management Systems (NIMS). All TEEX courses are fully compliant with all NIMS principles and the Incident Command System (ICS).

TEEX courses are specifically designed to meet a jurisdiction’s mission to accomplish specific requirements on the Target Capabilities List (TCL) and the Universal Task List (UTL), as well as meeting requirements of the appropriate National Planning Scenarios and National Preparedness Goal priorities.

Swiftwater & Flood Rescue Program Courses:

• Swiftwater Rescue - Awareness – This 4-hour (½ day) course is designed to provide responders an overview of the swiftwater and flood environment and prepare them to provide defensive shore based rescues. This course does not train the responder to enter the water, and all rescues are taught to be conducted from the safety of the shore.
• Swiftwater Rescue - Enhanced Awareness - This 8-hour (1 day) course is designed to provide responders an overview of the swiftwater and flood environment and prepare them to provide defensive shore based rescues. This course provides the same classroom information as the Swiftwater Rescue – Awareness course listed above with the addition of two water based modules: two hours of rope throw bag skills and two hours of drown proofing of the participants.
• Swiftwater Rescue - Operations – This 16-hour (2 day) course is designed for responders that will support the Technician level personnel during a swiftwater or flooding incident.
• Swiftwater Rescue - Operations Upgrade – This 16-hour (2 day) course is designed to provide the responder with the knowledge to conduct in water offensive swiftwater and flooding related rescues. The pre-requisite for this course is the Swiftwater Rescue – Operations course.
• Swiftwater Rescue Technician – This 32-hour (4 day) course is designed to provide the responder with the knowledge to conduct in-water offensive swiftwater and flooding related rescues. The first two days of this course are the Swiftwater Rescue – Operations Level course and are a pre-requisite to continue with the remaining 16 hours to complete the technician level.
• Swiftwater Rescue Technician Refresher - This 8-hour (1 day) course is designed to provide swiftwater technicians an opportunity to update and refresher for the shore based and in-water rescue skills. This course includes homework to develop a nighttime swiftwater search plan.
• Rope Rescue – These courses are designed to meet or exceed certification requirements as outlined in NFPA 1670 and NFPA 1006 for rope rescue. This course is managed by TEEX - Emergency Services Training Institute (ESTI).

Courses requiring swiftwater are conducted on the Comal and Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, TX. Courses that do not require swiftwater (the awareness and enhanced awareness courses) can be conducted at your agency or jurisdiction or in Disaster City®. Disaster City® is a 52-acre urban search and rescue training facility and delivers the full array of skills and techniques needed by today’s US&R teams and emergency responders.

TEEX’s US&R training features instructors who have responded to some of the largest disasters on record, including the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, the space shuttle Columbia incident and Hurricane Katrina.

TEEX is the sponsoring agency for Texas Task Force 1, one of 28 national urban search and rescue teams under FEMA and is Texas’ only Type 1 statewide team under direction of the Texas Division of Emergency Management. Texas Task Force 1 also includes one of the country’s most extensive water rescue programs.