What is a public safety diver ?

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That was a net article. That is something I would eventually like to be involved.

First off become aware of what actually goes on and what PSD's deal with. I have seen many diver ruined and never dive again even after just short periods on a team. Very little is pleasent.

Next get involved with a local Fire or LEO team. Some are very active while others do nothing but train. Some members quit because the team is to busy while others quit because they do nothing but train. A large percentage will quit after not being able to get images, normally of a recovered child out of their mind. All the help in the world may not cure that.

Some teams are rescue units while most are recovery. There are teams out there that call themselves Rescue but in reality they aren't and someday that may come back to bite them in the butt. As a general rule of thumb if you can't run code, have your gear set up 24-7, are on pagers and can drop everything and roll RIGHT NOW it's recovery.

If one can stomach it it's a great rewarding profession paid or not.

Good luck making your decission.

Gary D.
 
Thanks for the insight. My wife may have more to say about it than myself.
I do think that it would be rewarding to give families closure, but I do realize that it is not a task to be taken lightly.
I also think that the training involved would be a huge asset to my diving experience. It definitely won't be a decision made lightly or unadvised.
 
Go over to the PSD forum and do some reading. There are some reports on there.

Giving closure to a family IS a wonderful thing. But it can open up a nightmare for the person giving that closure. Enter into this field with caution. In the past couple of years I have lost two very good well trained divers because of a very bad incident. Both involved kids, one 14 and the other just a bit older. More than likely neither diver will ever dive again.

Gary D.
 
Thanks for the insight. My wife may have more to say about it than myself.
I also think that the training involved would be a huge asset to my diving experience. It definitely won't be a decision made lightly or unadvised.

I thought the exact same thing when I joined our local PSD team. Turns out the training I received has little effect on my diving experience, other than being more comfortable in zero visibility. The irony is I wouldn't dive in zero viz for fun. I'd call the dive and find a new spot or wait for another day.

Public Safety Diving has almost zero crossover to recreational "fun" diving. Recreational diving encourages buoyancy, trim, correct weighting, fun.

PSD diving is about overweighting and crawling across the bottom on your belly slowly and methodically searching for your objective. It's been an interesting experience to say the least, but I don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone. I will forever have the face of the first victim I handled burned into my memory.
 
Early last month I was doing a fundraiser, For my PSD team at the boat show, At the booth I was playing a video on, What Is A Public Safty Diver.
 
Believe me I don't want to offend any "good" PSD's out there... but in our general area of the world... PSD's tend to be Volunteer Dive Teams from local Volunteer Fire Departments or local Police Departments. They are unskilled and their dive training inadequate.

I'm sure there are areas of the country where being a PSD actually means something more, where the divers train and dive on a regular basis... so to all of you - I solute you.

The reality is however that most Public Safety Divers do only one of three things:
1. Search for Weapons or other evidence from crimes
2. Work to recover dead bodies
3. Nothing at all except maybe train once a month or so

It is extremely rare that a PSD successfully rescues someone from danger. By the time a dive team arrives - it's a body recovery - and until you've seen a dead body underwater as you bump into it in zero vis... well just believe me - you'll almost come out of your suit and as others have pointed out here - you may never dive again.

PSD's in some areas are now getting more and more involved with work in and around port cities. They are being trained by the feds to search for bombs on incoming ships etc... If I had a family... I wouldn't want to be doing that either. I'm not interested in being there when it goes boom.

Put some long hard thought into becoming a PSD. I can only recommend it for the most hardy of men... an underwater version of quint from Jaws. Basically a person with nothing to lose... not many friends, who has seen enough death above land to hardily deal with facing it underwater.

Thank to all the PSD's out there who do the job no-one else wants!
 
One thing I'd like to add to offthewall1's post is nomatter how many bodies you deal with on land you still won't be ready for one underwater. Vis can be everywhere from very good to total blackness with no hope for any visual assistance but not all are in poor vis.. The ones you can see don't just lay there like on land. Areas like hair clothing and even arms and legs may be moving. I have seen a couple even turn and look at me as I approached and that is grounds for staying in your drysuit until you find a shower.

I've had some that were looking at me with a smile on their face as they were waving at me. One several years ago started kicking my partner in the face. We still laugh about that one but I was the cause of the kicks. They were caused when I was rolling the gentleman into the bag.

This is a very dangerous profession if you are not properly trained and the dangers can last a lifetime. If you like recreational diving you may not after becoming a PSD. One operation can ruin diving for you.

Gary D.
 
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