Grand_Shooter,
I am not a swift water expert but I would recomend getting a good pair of gloves. My wife an I lived aboard a 32' sailboat for 5 years and I know how cold wet line feels on bear hands. I bought a pair from West Marine that have velcro wrist straps and the tips of the thumb and index finger are exsposed allowing the use of those finger tips. They have paid for themselves a few times. The class sounds like alot of fun.
Good luck
Samuel

If anyone in Arizona knows about the swiftwater rescue class let me know!  I want to get into one.  I think you have to have your ropes 1 & 2 before you can get into the class.  Is this true??

Hey Garand...good luck with the class and let me know how it goes!!!

I am River Rescue Instructor certified.  I patrol Lake Erie.  Our rivers and streams have a lot of lowhead dams so we practice around those a lot.  Ohio DNR Div. of Watercraft  [url]www.dnr.state.oh.us/watercraft [/url] offers an entry level week long river rescue course in October of each year, and we offer an instructor level course in the spring.  These classes are open to rescue professionals.  It's a blast!  Being a few feet from the boil line of a lowhead dam is a rush!  We specialize in boat based and boat assisted rescues.  We use some line systems, especially the Z drag.  

I took a cool PWC (Jet Ski) rescue training class last fall from the FD guys from South Bend, IN.  That was cool, we tow a modified  stokes basket behind a PWC and a rescuer will ride on that.  The operator can take you right to a victim and the rescuer will grab the victim and bring them on board the basket.  It's a simple no-nonsense FAST way to get a victim.  We are now certified to teach that class, so I think in the next few years we want to put one of these classes on ourselves.  

For rescue gear I prefer the wet suit to the dry suit most of the time.  Mostly due to mobillity and comfort.  NRS [url]http://www.NRSrescue.com[/url]  is where we get most of our gear.  They are not the cheapest, but they are good!  Kevlar reinforced gloves are good.  You could also use reinforced neoprene gloves, or waterski/wakeboard gloves too.  The cheap $5-10 neoprene fishing gloves from Wal-Mart will not last long.  I tried.  Gloves are a must when handling lines. Also look at getting some of their rescuer water boots.  I got by for a while with old hiking boots, but that sucked.  You need the support, but something with a neoprene/water friendly material.  Leather Rocky boots don't do the trick:)  

Good luck with the class, it should be a blast!  If you have any other questions drop me an e-mail.