GUEST ILLNESS OPERATIONS PLAN

Communicating Increased Risks, Procedures, and Responsibilities of Guests

Guests will receive an email 10 days prior to their trip containing a link to this page to view all protocols.

Staff Training & Gear Management

Staff will be trained on symptoms of various illnesses, transmission, procedures, prevention, Personal Protective Equipment, etc.

AzRA Provided Gear:

Sleeping bags, sleeping liners, and life jackets are professionally laundered to hospitality standards between every trip. Lower half trip participants receive a fresh set of sleep equipment.

Tent bags, dry bags, and white sleeping pads are cleaned with disinfectant on the outside and inside between trips.

Kitchen gear: 

Commissary boxes (containing kitchen equipment such as pots and bowls) and utensil boxes are emptied. The contents of the boxes are run through a professional dish sanitizer (a Hobart). The boxes themselves, as well as other kitchen equipment such as fire pans, tables, coolers, and food boxes, are power-washed with 140+ degree water and disinfecting chemicals.

Toilets

Toilets are picked up, emptied, and cleaned by a professional service provider. Toilet hardware, such as seats, seat boxes, and handwash systems, is power washed with 140+ degree water and disinfected.

Participants at Higher Risk

We are asking individuals at higher risk of illness and effects of illness to consult with their health care providers.

Denial of Service

10 days prior to each trip, all guest participants will be sent an email telling them that if they feel unwell in any way, they need to contact AzRA immediately, and we will work with them on their options. This email also says, “We highly recommend that you consider limiting your exposure to others as much as possible between now and your trip to limit the chances of you becoming ill. The email also instructs anyone who starts feeling unwell after their orientation to contact the Manager on Duty directly to discuss their options.

Relating to COVID-19 specifically, we will be following the CDC’s guidance on travel with a positive test, and exposure to someone who tested positive.

Guests are NOT required to be vaccinated.

We cannot recommend enough that you purchase trip cancellation insurance to protect your trip investment. We have had a considerable rise of COVID and other illness cancellations (per our Denial of Service terms) in the past two seasons. Trip insurance does cover you if you are sick with COVID or any other illness or have to cancel because your traveling companion is unwell. Purchasing trip cancellation insurance for this reason alone, among many others, is highly recommended. You must purchase it at least 21 days before your scheduled trip date. Contact Travelex to purchase directly with them, or any other provider you prefer.

Employee requirements:

Employees are required to follow the same standards as our guests. If they are unwell, they will be taken off the trip. If they test positive for COVID-19 prior to a trip, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms of illness, or were exposed to COVID, they will be advised to follow the CDC’s recommended steps and remain at home until they have met the conditions to discontinue home isolation as defined by the CDC.

Transportation

All personal belongings are removed from vehicles, and the vehicles are swept and cleaned.  

During Shuttles

While on an AzRA vehicle, all trip participants are required to wear masks ONLY during high COVID-19 community levels per the CDC. If Coconino County is in low or moderate community levels per the CDC, masks will not be mandatory on AzRA vehicles.

Code of Conduct

Arizona Raft Adventures, Grand Canyon Discovery, and Grand Canyon Raft Adventures communicate our Code of Conduct to guests upon making a reservation. In addition, it is in their online trip portfolio, on our website, and it will be referenced periodically before launch. With respect to illnesses, it is important to recognize that different trip participants, both guest and crew, have different sensitivities regarding precautions. We ask that every trip participant communicate and respect these differing sensitivities.

On-River Screening

For the duration of trip, AzRA will require all trip participants to self-screen daily. If anyone feels unwell, we will monitor and note vitals.

Monitoring, Documentation, and Reporting

A staff member will be designated to monitor participant(s) and document signs and symptoms at least daily when a trip participant reports that they feel unwell.

We will report three or more cases (clusters) of on-river illness to the National Park Service Office of Public Health and Grand Canyon National Park Service dispatch as quickly as possible.

Personal Precautions

All trip participants will be instructed take COVID prevention precautions to the extent possible as identified by the CDC.

Hand Washing

Arizona Raft Adventures, Grand Canyon Discovery, and Grand Canyon Raft Adventures have always emphasized the importance of hand washing; we will continue to do so, with increased frequency and including additional instructions. If anyone starts feeling unwell, we will  set up at least one hand wash system upon arrival to camp or attraction sites and leave it set up until prior to departure.

At lunch and attraction sites, we will have at least one hand wash system set up.

At camp, we will have two to four hand wash systems set up, depending on the trip size and the specific layout of any given camp. We will at least have a handwash set up at each toilet and in the kitchen.

We will instruct all trip participants to wash their hands with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds.

Hand washing with soap and water is the best line of defense for most illnesses; Norovirus does not respond to hand sanitizer, which is why we will continue pushing hand washing over hand sanitizer whenever possible.

Masks (NOTE: this section ONLY applies during times that Coconino County is determined to be in a high level of transmission according to the CDC)

All trip participants will be required to bring a mask on their Grand Canyon raft trip. We will check to ensure that all guests have them at the pre-trip orientation; guests who do not have them will have the opportunity to purchase them. AzRA will provide masks for employees who need them.

When not wearing a mask, participants are advised to cover coughs or sneezes by using the inside of the elbow and wash hands or use hand sanitizer as soon as possible.

To check on community transmission levels, you can view the CDC’s site here.

Food Protocols

Hand Hygiene and Kitchen Equipment

All trip participants will be asked to wash their hands before and after entering the kitchen or handling any kitchen equipment, including water jugs.

Food Pack

We will continue to follow all Food Manager and Coconino County Health regulations in the food room prior to and while packing the food.

Food Preparation 

Crew members will be required to wear food service gloves when handling ready to eat foods. Crew members will continue to follow the guidelines provided by their Food Manager or Food Handler training.

Administering First Aid

AzRA crew members will be instructed to supervise self-administered (or traveling companion) first aid whenever possible.

When not possible, employees will use proper personal protective equipment (PPE) as appropriate and feasible per their Wilderness First Responder or higher training.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

AzRA crew members who determine CPR is necessary and suspect possible COVID-19 will be instructed to begin chest compressions after placing a surgical mask on the recipient and themselves while another crew member retrieves a bag valve mask (BVM) for rescue breathing. Rescue breathing will be given via BVM as soon as possible.

Isolation

We will undertake to isolate ill trip participants to the best of our ability:

1. When on a Classic Adventure or All-Paddle Adventure, we will isolate ill participant(s) to a separate raft, keep them separated from the group in camp and at attraction sites, and serve them directly when in camp and off the rafts (to avoid passing through kitchen and touching food and kitchen items).
2. When on a Motor Adventure, we will isolate ill participant(s) as well as possible on the raft. We’ll also keep them separated from the group in camp and at attraction sites and serve them directly when in camp and off the rafts.
3. Initiate further sanitation of raft in camp each day.

If unwell participant tests positive for COVID-19, per the CDC guidelines, isolation will occur. We monitor this carefully for any changes to the CDC, so to keep this page always up to date, see this page for current CDC guidance.

Further Mitigation Measures

We will require trip participants with COVID-19 symptoms to wear a mask when within 6 feet for the isolation period set by the CDC as linked above, when it is safe and reasonably feasible to do so (known exceptions may include while in whitewater, and when temperatures are high, and the mask represents a heat-illness hazard).

For cases of gastrointestinal illness (such as Norovirus), guests and crew will be required to isolate to the extent possible for 72 hours. 

For both COVID-19 and gastrointestinal illness, we will have unwell participants or crew sleep in isolation. We will take additional precautions around disinfecting the toilet immediately after sick participants use it. The river crew will take additional measures as appropriate. 

Testing for COVID-19

We send COVID-19 testing kits on our river trips, which include a limited amount of tests and N95 masks, as well as instructions for crew to follow on isolation and other measures. There will not be enough COVID tests to test every single person on the trip. In the event one person tests positive, we will treat anyone else exhibiting symptoms as positive as well.

Tracing Procedures

In the event of COVID-19 illness on one of our trips, we will inform all associated parties who encountered the sick person(s).

Grand Canyon National Park Involvement

We will involve the National Park Service:

1. We will report on river COVID-19 positive cases or gastrointestinal illnesses of three or more (clusters) to the National Park Service Office of Public Health and Grand Canyon National Park dispatch as quickly as possible. We will make every effort to contact Grand Canyon National Park to request an evacuation if a trip participant experiences the following.

Emergency Warning Signs (and they are not attributable to something else, such as cold water submersion) as defined by the CDC:

• Trouble breathing, 
• Persistent pain or pressure in chest, 
• New confusion,  
• Inability to wake or stay awake, or 
• Bluish lips or face. 

2. Grand Canyon National Park Service will decide whether to evacuate someone from a rafting trip or not. Although we will initiate the conversation, they will make the final decision.
3. Evacuation may not be possible or feasible and is ultimately at the discretion of the NPS.

In the event of COVID-19 illness on one of our trips, we will inform all associated parties who encountered the sick person(s).