Starter

[Gary D.]

I guess I'll start this one off.

Welcome aboard everyone.

If I can ever get only one point accross it's "DO NOT BEND INTO PEER PRESSURE". If it doesn't feel right don't do it nomatter how hard someone tries to push you into it.

Anyone who pushes you doesn't have a clue as to what is going on.

Don't add to the body count.

Gary D.

 

[indypddiver]

I want to first say "thank you" to the ScubaBoard staff for listening to the posts to start a PSD forum and for getting the job done so quickly! Natasha, thank you very much.

I thought it might be good to maybe post short bios just to give everyone an idea of where people are from and a little about their teams, etc.

Here goes...I have been a diver with the Indianapolis Police Department for 3 years (been diving for about 7 years). The team consists of 20 divers and two shore tenders. We work on an on-call basis, responding to runs as they occur. Because of some extreme flooding in the central Indiana area last year, we took a record 241 calls for service. That's not to say we made 241 working scuba dives as a team, just that we recieved 241 calls. We are a search & recovery team first, but work very closely with the Indianapolis Fire Department on rescues and other related activity.

I would be extremely interested in talking to anyone about the various topics related to PS diving. We have made vast changes to our training/diving operations over the last two years in direct response to two dive fatalities suffered by the fire department's team. I look forward to talking to anyone interested in the topic. Thanks!

 

[Gary D.]

Was first certified in 1962 in Santa Cruz California.

I had to go the hard route but after several ships swimmer schools was able to go to the U.S. Navy Scuba School. Upon completion of it I returned to the ship.

Did my first recovery, a few months prior to Scuba School, which is still as vivid today as it was all those years ago. That night, bobbing in the middle of the South China Sea, I knew what I was going to do with my life.

Within a year I was in Second Class school with open orders to a diving command should I graduate.
Went to the diving locker of the USS Prairie AD 15, which was a destroyer tender. Was on the Gemini and Apollo recovery teams as the secondary units. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride for all the Pacific landings.

Got out of the Navy in 1970 and stayed active as a diver. Tried instruction but after trying to kill everyone during pool harassment I realized I didn’t like civilian training tactics.

Moved to Idaho in October 1976 and joined the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department dive team. I was the only non-full time officer on the team. We had a back-up recovery team made up of Search and Rescue members that did double duty between land and water.

Went full time with the department in 1983 and I have been there ever sense. Our 10-member Rescue/Recovery team, up until the past two years averaged around 200 calls a year with a ZERO accident rate.

We have had months where all we did was dive and never worked patrol at all.

That’s about it in a nutshell. After 42 years I still love it. The team is one of the major reasons I do not want to retire. I'm way over 200 recoveries so why stop now.

www.mswobbles.com will show my wife diving. She has her Advanced and has MS to boot.

Gary D.

 

[medic001918]

Hello,
I'm not a public safety diver yet, but that is a rating that I hope to add to my list of accomplishments. I'm a volunteer firefighter here in Connecticut as well as being a paid EMT. I am currently in Paramedic school, which will be over for me in September. Then I want to take the Lifeguard Systems public safety classes and ice diving classes. I have attended their surface ice rescue program and found it to be among some of the best training that I've gone through in my career. I'm relatively new to diving, so I want to finish my medic education and then move on to another aspect of my career, which would be the public safety diver. Any information would be most welcomed. Glad to see a forum for public safety.
Shane

 

[indypddiver]

Yea, I better clarify a little. The PD team ("my" team) has not had an accident in its 28-year history....knock on wood. As you probably well know, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. After the FD team had its unfortunate problems, our team took a look at how we conducted business and made some changes that have been for the better. Obviously, you have to listen and learn from such things, otherwise you're an accident waiting to happen.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I'm not directly envolved in public safety diving mostly because I'm not a police officer or fire fighter. However as an instructor and former dive shop owner I have been involved with training team members in courses including OW, AOW, search and recovery, Ice diving, Dry suit, full face mask and rescue. All these courses were sesigned as recreational training and are in no way adequate preperation for public safety diving IMO.

My interest/concerns in the subject peaked when I (along with many others from what I hear) was asked by media people to read and comment on the OSHA reports on the accidents that indypddiver mentioned. Very hard stuff to read.

I voiced my support for this forum because I really think the member of the team with little or no training or equipment budget or worse...the team who has a budget that's getting spent supporting some politicians personal agenda and oporating in a vacume may just have his life saved by hearing from members of well trained well equiped teams.

 

[Jawbone]

I've been a PSD for 5 years. Our team has 24 divers, 14 shore tenders and boat operators. Our team is called out as needed. We Specialize rescue, recovery, evidence recovery, handling. We have recently been appointed Homeland security regional team. We have a vast equipment selection. The amazing thing is we are totally self funded. Meaning we receive no money from local, state, or fed funding. All equipment is owned by the divers themselves. The team has been in service for 40 years. Also to indypddiver, A diver on your FD. use to be a member of our team before he was hired out there. He had told us of the loss of their divers and it was sad. Luckily in 40 years we have not suffered a major incident. Jason..

 

[indypddiver]

Jawbone,

That is absolutely amazing! Totally self funded? That's unheard of, wow. Just out of curiousity, when you say you own all of your gear...are you talking boats, communications gear, etc., as well as your diving equipment? I think about our team and we all dive in contaminate-rated dry suits and full-face masks with buddy phone and hardline coms. We have to totally replace our gear on average of 3-5 years due to the almost exclusively contaminated water in which we dive. Not to mention the boats (not fancy...believe me) and various other stuff. The gear we issue to each diver gets into the thousands of dollars. We couldn't afford to fund ourselves if we all made three times the salary! Are you all paid deputies or do you allow volunteers who are non-law enforcement?

Reference your friend that got hired by the FD...I am one of the instructors for the FD/PD, so I might know him. What's his name? Send me a private email if you'd like.

 

[indypddiver]

An instructor for the FD/PD just since the program was revamped...I might add.

 

[Jawbone]

Yes everything the team has is ours. Meaning the divers own it. Equipment includes aga masks, buddy phones, drysuits, metal detectors, diver propulsion vehicles, ROV, Drop cameras, forward looking sonar, sonar fish, several Zodiacs, 2 walkin styles rescue vehicles, lift bags up to 10,000 lbs. pillow bags. and on and on. But yes we own it all. Various divers own various equipment. As for the team all members are volunteer. Many are deputies. I personally am not. I'm a paid Firefighter/medic for city department within the county.