MACON, Ga. — Adriana Rivera-Colon is no stranger to Amerson River Park.
"I am out here all the time. It's like my second home," she said.
Over the last six years, she's come to know the Ocmulgee River pretty well, but even she sees how dangerous it can be.
"It's very shallow in majority of the places, but then in certain spots it drops off and the current like, picks up, so people don't realize while you're floating that that current is going really fast," she said.
Rivera-Colon was on the river with her friend, Joseph Kelly, when they helped a woman struggling against the current.
"I could tell that she had been there a long time, doing it a long time. She was pale, she was rough. You could tell she was scared, and I just tried to stay calm, and I wasn't really thinking about it. I was just thinking about, I just need to get her to the shore," Kelly said.
Corporal Robert Billings with the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department Rescue Dive Team says most of their rescues happen because people aren't properly prepared for their trip.
"They did not bring enough equipment or plan accordingly for the day or the conditions on the river. The biggest thing is they don't know where they are or where they need to get out at. They end up missing the take out," Billings said.
He recommends checking the daily river conditions on usgs.gov before heading out on the water.
"It'll tell you the flow, how much water is actually coming down the river and the depth of the marker," Billings said.
At the very least, he says communication and the right equipment are the best ways to prepare for a day on the river.
"Have your life jacket, know where you're at and where you're going, and let someone else know where you will be and what your expected time of arrival is," Billings said.
Billings says if you happen to get stuck without a floating device, floating on your back until you get to a safe place to hold onto is better than fighting against the current.