getting involved

[jnallen]

i'm interested in getting involved with public safety diving. what qualifications are needed? which public service organizations manage public safety diving? is it necessary to own special personal gear?

 

[BigJetDriver]

i'm interested in getting involved with public safety diving. what qualifications are needed? which public service organizations manage public safety diving? is it necessary to own special personal gear?

Jared,

Different areas and different organizations have differing requirements. The topic is too broad to cover in short messages.

Since you are in the Houston area, give me a call at 281-615-1916 and I can give you a lot more information.

Cheers!

Rob

 

[Gary D.]

i'm interested in getting involved with public safety diving. what qualifications are needed? which public service organizations manage public safety diving? is it necessary to own special personal gear?

We have had a lot of chat about this same subject.

I don't sugar coat anything but there are some things you just need to be comfortable with first.

Checking your profile, You have enough years under your belt so you should be able to make a good sound decision about this. Your way weak on the number of dives but that can be taken care of.

Mindset:
One thing you must be able to deal with is dead bodies. Not just seeing a pic of one but getting down right personal with them as far as contact goes. I have some video with the liquid contents of a gentleman exiting his container and surrounding me like smoke from a Bar-B-Q grill. Not much you can do except be comfortable with it. Should you not expect it and it freaks you out underwater we could have another victim, You.

A lot of victims are children. They are just tough to handle no matter how they die. Parents just shouldn’t have to bury their kids.

Training:
DR1 is the very bare minimum to get started. Training has to be contoured to meet the needs of your area.

Who:
LEO’s and Fire NORMALLY are tasked with the duties.

Gear:
Depends what the area dictates. What kind of diving are you going to do under what conditions? With a Rescue team the gear should all be the same. For an S&R team there can be a variety.

Good luck and check the board under the PSD section for some discussions on the subject.

Gary D.