Section 137-14-03 - Whitewater Personnel RequirementsA.Prerequisites for Applicant to be Examined for a Whitewater Guide's License2. Each whitewater guide applicant and licensed whitewater guidemust be currently certified in American Red Cross National Safety Council Standard First Aid or equivalent. Proof of current certification is required.3. Each whitewater guide applicant and licensed whitewater guide must be certified in American Red Cross, American Heart Association or National Safety Council C.P.R.4. Each whitewater guide applicant must enroll in and successfully complete a whitewater guide training course consisting of the following: For a Level One License (allows the holder to guide whitewater trips on any Maine river except that portion of the Penobscot River between McKay Station and the Big Eddy and that portion of the South Branch of the Penobscot River from Canada Falls Dam to the bridge on the Northern Road just prior to Pittston Farm at a flow level of 500 cfs or higher):
a. A minimum of 7 days of instruction in river etiquette, whitewater safety, general local geography, and characteristics of whitewater rivers, andb. Guide training, to occur on at least two of the following rivers: KennebecRiver, DeadRiver, Penobscot River, MagallowayRiver, or the RapidRiver, andc. Five of the seven days of guide training must be on river training on the Kennebec River between Harris Dam, Indian Stream Twp., and The Forks, or on the Penobscot River between Little Eddy and Nevers Corner.d. Guide training shall include at least twenty training runs of the rivers identified in 4(b); from Spencer Stream to the Gravel Pit access point on the Dead River; from the Gravel Pit to the take-out on the Dead River; from Harris Dam to Carry Brook access point on the Kennebec River; from Little Eddy to the Big Eddy on the Penobscot River (three runs of Big Ambejackmockamus Falls on the Penobscot River is equivalent to one training run, and two runs from Abol Pines to Nevers Corner on the Penobscot River is equivalent to one training run).e. A minimum of five guided training runs on the Kennebec River from Harris Dam to Carry Brook, and/or The West Branch of the Penobscot River between Little Eddy and Nevers Corner. A guided training run must be conducted on every section of the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers for which a guide is licensed to guide, prior to the guide actually guiding a commercial trip on the given river section of those rivers.f. When used in this context, guided training run means the applicant conducts a simulated whitewater trip utilizing other guide applicants or guides as passengers. Training runs conducted as part of a guide training course must be made in whitewater craft used to carry passengers as part of a whitewater trip. (Craft capable of carrying only 1 person may not be used.)g. Each whitewater guide applicant, while participating in guide training, must comply with current whitewater guide PFD Type requirements.h. The minimum number of watercraft on any guide training run shall be two.i. The minimum number of licensed whitewater guides on any guide training run shall be two.j. Safety Equipment Requirements listed in Chapter 14.04 shall apply to all guide training runs. For a Level Two License (allows the holder to guide whitewater trips on any Maine river where a whitewater guide license is required):
a. Must possess a Level One License, andb. The applicant must have made ten training runs on the Penobscot River; two of the ten training runs must include the major rapids between the Big Eddy and Never's Corner; andc. The applicant must have made five guided training runs from Little Eddy to Big Eddy. Once access is restored at McKay Station, an applicant must have made five guided training runs from McKay Station to Liddle Eddy, in order to guide this section of river, andd. The applicant must have made at least 6 commercial whitewater trips, as a paid guide. Applicants must provide the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife with a form, signed by the applicant's trainer, stating that the applicant has taken and successfully completed the above outlined training; and signed by the outfitter, attesting that the candidate is qualified to be a licensed whitewater guide in the state of Maine. Upon receipt of this documentation, a written test will be administered. Applicants failing the written test must wait 30 days before reapplying.
B.Guides1. Each craft involved in a whitewater trip shall carry a minimum of one licensed whitewater guide and each guide, while guiding a whitewater trip, shall keep his/her current guide's license and current first-aid/CPR credentials or true copies at the base of operations for the outfitter by whom they are employed for that day.2. The minimum number of licensed whitewater guides on any whitewater trip shall be two. Each guide, while guiding a whitewater trip, must whenever reasonably possible, have continuous visual contact with at least one other guide from that whitewater trip.3. Each whitewater guide shall carry on his/her person a knife having a 3" blade and a whistle, both of which are in good and serviceable condition and readily accessible at all times.4. Each whitewater guide shall wear a securely fastened, non-inflatable, Coast Guard approved personal flotation device that is the appropriate size and in good and serviceable condition with a design buoyancy of at least 16 lbs., of one of the following classifications: Type III or Type V intended use for whitewater paddling or river rescue.5. Life jackets worn by guides shall contrast in color with those worn by other passengers to such a degree that guides are easily recognized as such by all trip participants. The color contrast between solid red and solid orange is not significant and the two colors do not provide a legal contrast.6. Whitewater guides shall ensure that each passenger participating on a whitewater trip wears a securely fastened serviceable U.S. Coast Guard approved Type V personal flotation device for whitewater rafting.C.Trip leader1. One licensed whitewater guide who has been designated by the outfitter as a "trip leader" shall supervise each whitewater trip.2. Each trip leader shall be currently certified in American Red Cross Emergency Response or equivalent. Proof of current certification is required.09- 137 C.M.R. ch. 14, § 03