IADRS Conference underway in Fairfax, VA

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BladesRobinson

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On September 25th, the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists held their annual awards dinner at the Hyatt Fair Lakes in Fairfax, VA.
The awards which recognized various teams and an individual are listed below. Supporting documents follow at the end of this message.
Captain Dale Appel, Boone County Water Rescue (KY)
The Robert G. Teather Award
For lifelong contributions to the safety of the Public Safety Divers.

Broward Sheriff’s Office Dive Team (FL)
The Fin of Perseverance
The search for Matthew Sterling

Broward Sheriff’s Office Dive Team (FL)
The Specialized Fin Award
The Most Technical Recovery; The search for evidence related to the murder of Sgt. Chris Reyka

Fishers Police Department (IN)
The Silver Fin Award
Most Improved Dive Team

Elk Grove Village Fire Protection District (IL)
The Diverse Fin Award
The most unique team funding, use of “foreign fire insurance” funds

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (FL)
The Dramatic Fin Award
The Most Dramatic Marine Operation, recovery below the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Lake St. Louis Fire Protection District – Water Rescue Task Force (MO)
The Fabulous Fin Award
The most spectacular water rescue, the rescue of Erica Strickland

The International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists hosts an annual membership meeting and public safety diver conference. The 2008 conference will conclude on Sunday, September 28th.

This year’s conference had more than 150 people in attendance representing 30 states and 3 countries.

Captain Dale Appel, Boone County Water Rescue (KY)
The Robert G. Teather Award
For lifelong contributions to the safety of the Public Safety Divers

In 1967, Dale Appel started a water rescue/recovery program in northern Kentucky after his best friend and his friend's father-in-law drowned in the Ohio River. Dale didn't want other people to suffer through what he had - days of waiting for the bodies to surface before they could be recovered. At that time there were no dive teams, and dragging rigs were the primary means for recoveries. Boats were borrowed fishing boats or jon boats. Medical personnel weren’t even thought of.

A year later Dale became a certified diver and was later certified as a dive master under PADI. He started the Boone County Special Evidence Collection Team for the underwater recovery of weapons, vehicles and evidence of crimes. He took over the auxiliary police and was appointed Civil Defense director before the team, now Boone County Water Rescue, became part of Boone County Emergency Management.

Capt. Appel then created in-house-trained underwater rescue/recovery teams. He created a public relations program for schools and community groups, promoting water safety and the wearing of life jackets. He began the first northern Kentucky water rescue boat patrol. He put three boats on the Ohio River, and had three more boats for ponds and smaller rivers.

Certified EMTs were added for emergency pre-hospital care and for medical and trauma services on water and land. All EMTs are Kentucky and national certified and are crucial in maintaining a medically safe environment for divers.

And diving is Capt. Appel’s passion - and safety for the diver has been, and always will be, paramount. Over the years, he has worked hard to ensure the safety of his divers and, by extension, the safety of all divers.

In addition to Boone County Water Rescue divers being trained as public safety divers under Dive Rescue International, Inc., they are also put through an extensive in-house training program. Upon completion of both programs, the divers can then function as rescue and recovery divers for the team.

Capt. Appel has designed and teaches drowning reconstruction and search techniques for rescue and fire departments, and acts as a consultant for other teams. Over the years, Capt. Appel has upgraded the team’s diving capabilities to the highest levels, using diving equipment compared to the U.S. Navy.

With Capt. Appel leading the charge, equipment has been modified to a level of capability beyond that which the manufacturer designed. Capt. Appel has inspired other agencies to improve their equipment to the latest technologies available to the search and rescue community. He has generously passed along his knowledge.

The policies Capt. Appel has developed for the team and procedures for diving have greatly reduced risks by incorporating a high level of safety using the latest in equipment. BCWR divers’ safety has been improved with the addition of technical equipment, surface supplied EXO 26 full face mask systems with cameras attached to the diver’s hat, extremely low lux underwater drop cameras with full communications, and diver cameras that also transmit to the command center, boats and diver supervisors. The modified side scan sonar not only reduces the risk to divers but has made recovery efforts faster and reduces the cost of operations. Even with budget cuts the team continues to find ways to push the technological limits in order to enhance the safety of the divers.

Capt. Appel also developed a drowning reconstruction course for Eastern (Kentucky) University and teaches the class each September. His drowning reconstruction reduces the amount of time the divers are underwater and exposed to the elements. He has been asked to reconstruct and search for drowning victims in Tennessee, Nebraska, Colorado, Ohio and Indiana and, at each site, the divers’ safety was paramount.

BCWR team members have been long-time members of the IADRS and have supported teams nationwide through the exchange of information and resources.

Forty-one years after Dale Appel decided one dark day to start a water rescue service, the Boone County Water Rescue team is now referred to as one of the best public safety dive teams in North America. Led by Capt. Appel, they have been pioneers of water rescue and have developed, tested and revised many of the techniques used today by many water rescue and recovery teams, resulting in a safer underwater environment for divers.

Broward Sheriff’s Office Dive Team (FL)
The Fin of Perseverance
The search for Matthew Sterling

The Broward Sheriff's Office Dive Rescue Team was tasked with locating a possible missing person that was last seen driving his vehicle in rural Broward County on US 27 which runs along the eastern boundary of the Florida Everglades. Without a last seen point and no witnesses, the dive team started scanning area canals utilizing side scan sonar to identify potential vehicles in the canal. To our surprise and dismay over 50 barrels containing potentially Hazardous Materials, car parts, farm debris, miscellaneous junk and 140 vehicles were found in just a 3 mile stretch of canal. Realizing the magnitude of the problem now facing the dive team, a plan was devised to use underwater drop cameras on each vehicle in an attempt to identify the missing vehicle as a first step in a recovery effort.

After several close calls and several months of work, the missing vehicle was found with the driver still seat belted into the vehicle. The vehicle was found leaning against a bridge piling in an area the victims family stated that he would not have traveled. The dive team utilizing underwater video equipment documented the vehicle before recovery of the body, lift bags were used to vertically lift the vehicle so team members could drag the vehicle to the canal back where it was lifted from the water.
The dive team then developed a plan to recover all the vehicles in the canal. A massive coordination of assets was set into motion to recover as many vehicles as possible in one day by the Broward Sheriff's Office Dive Team and in February 2007 recovered 31 vehicles. The Broward Sheriff's Office Dive Team and has continued their effort to recover vehicles on a weekly basis and to date the dive team recovered over 211 vehicles since February 2007. Photo at: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/89032
 
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Broward Sheriff’s Office Dive Team (FL)
The Specialized Fin Award
The Most Technical Recovery; The search for evidence related to the murder of Sgt. Chris Reyka

On August 10, 2007, the Broward Sheriff’s Office suffered a great loss, the murder of Sgt. Chris Reyka. Sgt. Reyka was on routine patrol when he drove into a parking lot at a local Walgreen’s and observed a vehicle parked toward the rear of the lot. Sgt. Reyka turned his vehicle toward that area of the lot when to his surprise the vehicle contained several suspects were about to rob the drug store at gunpoint. The suspect jumped out of there vehicle firing numerous shots at Sgt. Reyka, striking him several times as he tried to get out of his car. Sgt. Reyka succumbed to his wounds later that night.

Since that dreadful day, the Broward Sheriff’s Office Dive Team has been tasked with following up hundreds of leads where suspects and informants have indicated where vehicles and firearms have been discarded in the waterways of the county.

In March of this year, information was received that the murder weapon was thrown into a canal along the interstate highway. A survey of the canal revealed that the canal contained 5 feet of loose sediment on the bottom of the canal and after throwing a “test” firearm into the waterway. It was determined that a firearm would indeed sink into the sediment fairly quickly. After diving for 3 weeks conducting hand searches, 2 handguns and a shotgun were recovered but not in the high probability area. Therefore, the dive team utilized a dredging/suction truck and manually sucked the sediment out of the canal to get to the bedrock so a through search could be done. The suspect firearm was not located and now plans are being made to dam the waterway, pump out the water and dig out the canal.

Continued investigation by Detectives uncovered information that one of the firearms was thrown into a lake a few blocks away from the murder scene. The Dive Team currently is searching the lake and so far has recovered 3 firearms, one connected to another homicide.

In addition, side scan and side imaging sonar has been used extensively during the continued search for the suspect’s vehicle, so far the dive team has recovered 123 vehicles from the waterways in just the areas that informants have indicated that the vehicle was located.

To date, over 100 dive missions have been conducted totaling over 4500 hours diving looking for evidence. So far, 7 firearms from the drug store robberies and a murder have been retrieved.

Fishers Police Department (IN)
The Silver Fin Award
Most Improved Dive Team

In the past few years there have been two separate dive teams in the Town of Fishers, Indiana. Both teams enjoyed a good relationship and there were never the interagency fights or disputes that we read about from time to time in other areas. Both the police department and the fire department went about their business day to day without much interaction at all. It was as if they were separated by miles, not a the few feet of green space in the town hall complex. Both teams had very different backgrounds and very different missions. At the fire department we had been diving since 1995, using DRI practices, diving in FFM and drysuits, and training monthly every year. Our view of the police team was that they dove occasionally, in recreational gear, and only got called for tow hook ups. Obviously our impressions weren’t 100% accurate and, as always, we were influenced often by the rumor mill. Nevertheless, in the few instances where the two teams actually operated together – we were still operating far apart.

Then in 2007 I got a phone call from the new police team leader, Eric Patton. Eric was asking questions about gear, questions about training, and questions about Dive Rescue International. Over the next few months we arranged meetings between our three PSSI’s (Lt. Todd Muth, FF Andy Luckey, and myself) and the two individuals that would become PSSIs for the police department, Mike Janes and Eric. We talked about the PSSI/DRIT program, the training, the gear changes and all of the other things it would take to get our teams in the same dive rotation. Between late 2007 and now they have lead that team in a whole new direction that we weren’t sure we’d ever see. It seemed to us as though that team was content with just hooking a car once in a while, but they weren’t.

Since those initial meetings the FPD dive team has purchased several Viking drysuits (and they are replacing any of their non-vulcanized drysuits), they have purchased and deployed Interspiro Aga masks with OTS hardwire communications, and most importantly, they have trained. Both Eric and Mike successfully graduated PSSI/DRIT and they came back ready to teach. As is happened, we were putting 3 new divers through a full PSD/DR1 program this past summer and the PD suggested training all of their divers to the same level. Over the summer the two teams spent many hours together and hundreds of logged dives working as one team. We took a few overnight trips together, learned a lot about each other, and worked out a lot of misconceptions along the way.

In the end, we have two teams operating as one. While we still train on separate schedules due to staffing, we do intermingle the trainings when we can. We all use very similar equipment that will be even further standardized next spring and we all respond using the same tactics and procedures. We have nearly identical SOGs and we have finalized response protocols to have both teams dispatched together. I can honestly say that I didn’t expect this to ever happen, but the Fishers Police Dive Team made the commitment and they made it work.
Clinton Crafton
Battalion Chief, A shift
Fishers Fire Department

Elk Grove Village Fire Protection District (IL)
The Diverse Fin Award
The most unique team funding, use of “foreign fire insurance” funds
® 2 years spent to restructure the department’s dive team
® A need for more than $98,000
® A FEMA grant totaling $62,000 for an Interspiro Surface Supplied Air System, 6 Viking Dry Suits and 4 Mustang anti-exposure suits
® “Foreign Fire Insurance” funds totaling $45,000 for a Kongsberg scanning SONAR and computer

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (FL)
The Dramatic Fin Award
The Most Dramatic Marine Operation, recovery below the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

® Recovery beneath a 175’ bridge
® Victim landed on rock rip rap beneath the bridge
® Night time, high winds, seas 4-5 feet in height
® Divers deploy from boat and swim to rock fender system where a 240 pound victim is located
® Victim falls another 10 feet during the recovery attempt and cannot be extricated by the 3 members
® Operation restarts at daylight with 6 divers
® One diver faints, is injured, requires medical attention and is extracted to the boat for transport
® Victim is recovered after 16 hours of effort
® Some team members working for more than 24 hours straight

Lake St. Louis Fire Protection District – Water Rescue Task Force (MO)
The Fabulous Fin Award
The most spectacular water rescue, the rescue of Erica Strickland

® Woman drives vehicle onto flooded roadway and the vehicle submerges
® The team responds with an inflatable boat to effect a rescue
® Swift currents and debris in the water make rescue boat operations risky
® A tremendous amount of skill is required to rescue the driver who has exited through the vehicle sunroof
® After negotiating hazards and maneuvering in the swift current the victim is rescued
 
Good conference all around. The fitness book by Stew is a great addition to anyone, no matter your body type. I had the opportunity to speak with him at length regarding some of his training philosophies. I like his thought process on many fitness issues. One I agree strongly with is his dislike to pushing out free weight and\or supersets to failure. You're begging for injury. A good book from him Maximum Fitness - The complete guide to cross training.

The stories/memories of Ed Young are unbelievable. Great presentation.

Gary Kozak on the Sidescan information. Great stuff.

All the presentations were well done.

Thanks
 
Blades,

Although I was not able to attend this year, my team members who did attend said they were exposed to a lot of quality, useful information. Usually the IADRS conference is the only venue to obtain such current and relevant information. This furthers my belief that as IADRS continues to grow, so will the conference. I just wanted to thank you and all of the folks involved for putting this together! Let everyone know their work is greatly appreciated.

I will see you next year my friend.
 
Kudos to the teams who were recognized with the awards. Lot of dedication required to obtain them. Very impressive work.
 

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