My First Call out

[sparkyjames]

Not a good one Im afraid,
Got my first call out today,( rember im new to the team) Seems two men were fishing a small river here and hit a rock with there boat and over turnd the craft.
from what I gather they were not hot rodding the boat just cliped the rock and upset there small boat.

one guy made it out ok but the last he seen of his friend was floating in the river, heading down stream. ( hip Wadders )

By the time we got the call and could make the drive to the site it was past the magic hour, we had help from the US Coast Gard they deployed a Helo to aid in the search

The Air Crew spotted some thing in the water but could not get close in for a better look

So it was decided two of our divers and a supervisor would be air lifted to the site in question
this turnded out to be a barel or a pipe of some sort. we had to call the search for tonight after that as the helo was low on fuel and it was getting way to dark to be
out.
Risk vs Benafit ( I know the rule dont mean I have to like it )

It was hard to leave the scean knowing I was going home to a hot meal and a warm bed and our victom wasnt,

Has this ever happend to you have you spent your time checking out what looks like something and it turns out to be nothing but so much debrey?

Im not talking bad leads this actuly looked like some one hunched over in the water could have fooled any one.

I know this must happen to other teams but it is frustrating when it happens to you
just want to do the right thing and bring them home and lose time for a barel

makes you want to throw the clown in that lost the barel


we are going back in the morning at first light so I will keep you posted



Sparky

 

[Kayla]

I think that its happened to all of us in one way or another, and your right, it sucks. Good luck tomorrow... doesn't sound like its totally promising, but hey, miracles happen every day!

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Good luck man

 

[Wildcard]

Welcome to the world of search and recovery. It just kicks you in the balls every time. After a while you get to the point when you see somebody doing something stupid, no seat belt, unrestrained child, no PFD, no smoke detector, and you just have to say something.

 

[Boater Dan]

Has this ever happend to you have you spent your time checking out what looks like something and it turns out to be nothing but so much debrey?
Sparky

Sparky:

To answer your question, yes, entirely too many times. You are only as good as the point last seen. Without a starting point, search and recovery becomes the proverbial needle in the haystack. Technology such as side scan sonar has taken some of the luck out of the equation.

You mentioned the risk/reward process. In that manner, the day was a success. EVERYONE from the team went home! Never lose sight of the fact that is the #1 priority when involved in a recovery. Our goal is always to try and provide closure, but NEVER at the risk of the team.

Good luck today and stay safe.

DAn

 

[Wildcard]

Always rember too, it's recovery not rescue.

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

Yes Sparky, this is a common scenario for anyone ever involved in these activities, as Boater Dan said, your only as good as last place seen. Given the deceptive distance of surface water and the general thought process of saving your own life, most near victims never really have a good grasp where the last seen point was. Best you can do is try your best while remembering there is already 1 victim and theres no good reason to make it 2. Keep your spirits up, your team (includes you) will find em', and provide the closure for the victims family and friends. Thats a tough job, and one I dont miss, my hats off to you man.

Schott

 

[Yotsie]

I have been involved in a lot of dives on "targets" that ended up not being the target we were looking for. Like the others have said, the main goal in a recovery is to do it safely. What you are feeling is something we have all gone through at one time or another. You will have calls were no dives can or will be made due to the risk/benefit factor; it's the nature of our business. The ones that are particularly hard are the ones with no or a goobed up last seen point and your just looking for a needle in a haystack.

Good luck and stay safe!!!

 

[Gary D.]

Sparky, many of your operations may be just like this one. We have gone for days, weeks, months and years waiting to find our victims. But that’s OK.

If we threw out the Risk/Benefit rule we would have many more victims. But they would be from our own ranks. Risk/Benefit is one of those things you need to pound into the gray matter so it pops up first in EVERY operation.

Remember we didn’t put the victim into that position. In your case had this guy done a very simple thing you could have stayed in bed or doing something else. A PFD could have prevented this operation.

But you know all of these expert swimmers don’t need them. I’ve only been on a couple of recoveries with non-swimmers. People just don’t think about it until its way to late, then it’s over and we get called.

You, your team and the IC did the right thing by calling the operation. A recovery is just that, a recovery. It is no different than any other object.

A body is an empty container that used to hold the personality that made that body a person. If they are still together you bust your butt to get to them and give them a chance at staying together. BUT once they are separated and that personality is gone it’s time to slow down. Now regroup so we don’t have any more separations between personality and bodies.

You’re here typing this so you did the right thing. Keep it safe on all recoveries. Some will be tough to walk away from especially when you know right where they are. BUT you may have to wait for conditions to improve and there is nothing wrong with that.

Moving water always poses additional challenges AND ADDITIONAL SAFETY PROCEEDURES. Just do what you can, as safely as you can and make sure everyone comes home. Remember you are doing this for the survivors not the victim.

Be safe my friend and good luck. Remember to debrief after the operation. Also include dispatchers and anyone else involved that was in the sidelines.

Gary D.

 

[Desert Pirate]

I hate that feeling of leaving before the job is done as well. We were searching for a 2yr old boy in a canal system, The vis was absolutley zero, hed been missing for 8-10 hours, and it got dark, our IC ended the search until 6am, at 5'ish his grandfather found him washed up on a bank down stream..... that sucks, but thats the rules of the game... at least the whole team came home, that is primarily a sucsessfull mission.