If you are, or are thinking about becoming a PSD read on. If not Im going to say some things that might disturb you. Im going to focus on RECOVERY not the rescue aspect of the job as it covers the greatest numbers of PSDs.
First off let me say that I am very proud to be a PSD and Im very proud of anyone who can handle the rigors of the job.
Its a profession where you can and should walk with your head held high throughout your community. But it is also a profession where you should not expect a lot of praise, glory or recognition for what you do. In-fact in most cases you will be left alone to deal with tragedy.
Sure theres support out there but is that enough and can you really get out whats eating at you through a non-family member or a stranger.
You might, and will more than likely, be placed in situations that are un-natural to our normal way of thinking and dealing with things. You may be called on to do things that would cause the majority of the population to toss their cookies and through all of it you need to be strong and professional.
Why am I bringing this up?
Well, after this last search and me joking (amongst us well out of the publics eye) about finding the wrong person, I started thinking about how many times we have had similar surprises. It got me thinking on what it has done to people I know and have worked with over the years.
A large percentage of my department, from the very top down, has been on the team at one time or another. From the time I joined this team in October 76 until now I would guess we have gone through over 75 members. Some are still with the department while others have moved on to other departments or even made carrier changes.
For some teams going through that many may not sound like a lot but we are a team of 10 authorized in-house members. That is a huge turn around. The sad part is how many were active divers prior to the team and how few are active after leaving. Prior to being on the team everyone wanted to dive with us. After leaving the team all but two have sold their gear and quit diving all together.
We have it made over volunteer teams. We dont have to leave our normal course of employment to go on an operation, as this is a sideline of our employment. We get $.50 an hour for being a member. Most of our gear is supplied and maintained by the department and we have all the emotional support we need to cope with what we have to deal with at no cost out of pocket.
Getting back to my joking about finding the wrong body. It turned out not to be a joke but a fact. We did find the wrong body. Unusual, not as much as one might think. Even though we were only surface support with some specialized equipment it is still a shocking experience when it happens.
As a PSD you are called into areas to make a recovery of a possible drowning victim from earlier in the day. Remember that we are not talking rescue here. Just because you have a victim in the water doesnt mean there isnt a second or a third victim that has been there for a while and may or may not have been reported.
So here you are using any variety of search tool and patterns when you come across a human form on the bottom. The lower the visibility the more dramatic this is going to be but you reach out and grab the victim you have located and the part you grab comes off in your hand. That human form you just located has just started to dissolve right before your very eyes.
How do you handle it? It isnt natural to see this happen to what once was a living, breathing, intelligent human being. It can turn even the strongest stomach when it happens to an animal so what is it going to do to you as a PSD when its a human falling apart in your hands?
This happens more often in fresh water than salt, as bodies dont last that long in the brine. We have had them down over 20 years and they looked like they just drowned. But when the boddies were touched they were the consistency of Jell-O that wasnt totally set up and outside a mold.
Those types of dives bug me. I dont like doing them but I in the same breath I dont mind doing them. Someone has to do it and I would rather do it than expose another member that doesnt feel very good about doing it.
What you wont get me to is something a lot more natural. Thats an autopsy. NO way Jose. I cant stand them and they freak me out. Ive gone and did OK but my shin crawled for weeks.
Now why can I do so well with one and not the other?
I have just seen a lot of diving lives destroyed by serving short periods as a PSD simply because they werent ready. They never had it explained that they were entering into something that is so un-natural to deal with.
I simply will not sugar coat this job and I will try and give you the worst I can. Not to be gross but to help you survive.
Gary D.
First off let me say that I am very proud to be a PSD and Im very proud of anyone who can handle the rigors of the job.
Its a profession where you can and should walk with your head held high throughout your community. But it is also a profession where you should not expect a lot of praise, glory or recognition for what you do. In-fact in most cases you will be left alone to deal with tragedy.
Sure theres support out there but is that enough and can you really get out whats eating at you through a non-family member or a stranger.
You might, and will more than likely, be placed in situations that are un-natural to our normal way of thinking and dealing with things. You may be called on to do things that would cause the majority of the population to toss their cookies and through all of it you need to be strong and professional.
Why am I bringing this up?
Well, after this last search and me joking (amongst us well out of the publics eye) about finding the wrong person, I started thinking about how many times we have had similar surprises. It got me thinking on what it has done to people I know and have worked with over the years.
A large percentage of my department, from the very top down, has been on the team at one time or another. From the time I joined this team in October 76 until now I would guess we have gone through over 75 members. Some are still with the department while others have moved on to other departments or even made carrier changes.
For some teams going through that many may not sound like a lot but we are a team of 10 authorized in-house members. That is a huge turn around. The sad part is how many were active divers prior to the team and how few are active after leaving. Prior to being on the team everyone wanted to dive with us. After leaving the team all but two have sold their gear and quit diving all together.
We have it made over volunteer teams. We dont have to leave our normal course of employment to go on an operation, as this is a sideline of our employment. We get $.50 an hour for being a member. Most of our gear is supplied and maintained by the department and we have all the emotional support we need to cope with what we have to deal with at no cost out of pocket.
Getting back to my joking about finding the wrong body. It turned out not to be a joke but a fact. We did find the wrong body. Unusual, not as much as one might think. Even though we were only surface support with some specialized equipment it is still a shocking experience when it happens.
As a PSD you are called into areas to make a recovery of a possible drowning victim from earlier in the day. Remember that we are not talking rescue here. Just because you have a victim in the water doesnt mean there isnt a second or a third victim that has been there for a while and may or may not have been reported.
So here you are using any variety of search tool and patterns when you come across a human form on the bottom. The lower the visibility the more dramatic this is going to be but you reach out and grab the victim you have located and the part you grab comes off in your hand. That human form you just located has just started to dissolve right before your very eyes.
How do you handle it? It isnt natural to see this happen to what once was a living, breathing, intelligent human being. It can turn even the strongest stomach when it happens to an animal so what is it going to do to you as a PSD when its a human falling apart in your hands?
This happens more often in fresh water than salt, as bodies dont last that long in the brine. We have had them down over 20 years and they looked like they just drowned. But when the boddies were touched they were the consistency of Jell-O that wasnt totally set up and outside a mold.
Those types of dives bug me. I dont like doing them but I in the same breath I dont mind doing them. Someone has to do it and I would rather do it than expose another member that doesnt feel very good about doing it.
What you wont get me to is something a lot more natural. Thats an autopsy. NO way Jose. I cant stand them and they freak me out. Ive gone and did OK but my shin crawled for weeks.
Now why can I do so well with one and not the other?
I have just seen a lot of diving lives destroyed by serving short periods as a PSD simply because they werent ready. They never had it explained that they were entering into something that is so un-natural to deal with.
I simply will not sugar coat this job and I will try and give you the worst I can. Not to be gross but to help you survive.
Gary D.