Swiftwater conference brings first responders to OKC for real-world rescue training

For first responders, the middle of an emergency is no time to figure out what works. 

That idea is at the heart of the Oklahoma Swiftwater Rescue Conference, which brought first responders from across the country and beyond to RIVERSPORT in Oklahoma City for hands-on training designed to prepare them for challenging water rescues. 

The conference culminated in the Swiftwater Rescue Competition, where teams put their skills to the test in timed scenarios designed to recreate some of the pressure they could face during an actual emergency. 

“It’s hard to simulate an actual emergency, and the only way we can really do it is time,” said Greg Merrell, lead water rescue instructor for Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training. “Firefighters and first responders are all competitive, and that competitive nature gets them in a time crunch.”  

The goal is not simply to see who can complete a rescue the fastest. Merrell said challenging responders in a controlled environment helps them understand their abilities and limitations before encountering a dangerous situation in the field. 

That is where RIVERSPORT plays an important role. 

Merrell travels around the world teaching water rescue and said he regularly highlights the Oklahoma City facility in his presentations. 

“It’s a true blessing,” Merrell said. “I travel around the world teaching and I always brag on it. It’s one of my slides and I say, ‘This is in my backyard.’”  

RIVERSPORT allows instructors to recreate scenarios, experiment with new techniques and equipment and repeat exercises in a controlled setting. Merrell said instructors can even intentionally introduce problems into a training scenario to determine what might go wrong and how responders should react. 

“The emergency scene’s not the place to learn,” Merrell said.  

The training opportunity draws first responders well beyond Oklahoma. Merrell said this year’s conference included about 115 students representing 14 states and two countries outside the United States. About 84 participants came from out of state. Instructors also traveled from across the country, bringing experience from real-world rescue deployments into the training.  

“Nobody knows it all,” Merrell said. “By bringing the instructors around ... you’re learning from the best and you’re learning from people that actually [have] done it.”  

The conference also hosted the 2026 Higgins and Langley Memorial Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in swiftwater and flood rescue. Established in 1993 by the Swiftwater Rescue Committee of the National Association for Search and Rescue, the awards honor Earl Higgins, who died while rescuing a child from the flooded Los Angeles River in 1980, and Jeffrey Langley, a Los Angeles County firefighter-paramedic who died during a rescue in a helicopter incident in 1993.  

The awards extend beyond individual rescues, recognizing contributions to training, preparedness and the development of water rescue programs. The organization recognizes recipients in five categories, including outstanding achievement, program and team development, specific incidents, special commendation and lifetime achievement. The 2025 and 2026 ceremonies were both held as part of the Oklahoma Swiftwater Rescue Conference.  

For Merrell, that focus on sharing knowledge and improving preparedness is central to the conference. RIVERSPORT gives instructors and responders a place to test their skills repeatedly, identify what does not work and refine what does before those lessons are needed in an actual emergency. 

The Oklahoma Swiftwater Rescue Conference is scheduled to return to Oklahoma City Aug. 23-27, 2027.