Multi-Agency Training- LA County Sheriff Dive Academy

In June 2011, members of the LAFD Dive Search and Rescue Team participated in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dive Academy.  The training consisted of a intensive eight week public safety dive course that trained divers in a broad range of dive disciplines that included altitude dives, deep dives, helicopter insertions, current diving, night and limited visibility, surface air supplied, search and recovery.  

The LASD Dive Academy was presented through the LA Port Police Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center (MLETC) and the instructors were members of LA County Sheriff Special Enforcement Bureau (ESB), Emergency Services Detail (ESD) .  Dive team members from Long Beach PD, LA Port PD, LASD and LAFD attended.


"It was an excellent opportunity to cross train with the other agencies that operate in the harbor area" stated LAFD dive team member Steve Meiche.  "We did a broad range of operations and introduced to new techniques that will be useful when collaborating on missions with these agencies" continues Meiche .

Confined Water Training

Deputy Chris Young discusses lift bag fundamentals
during a confined water training session. 

Search, Recovery and Deep Dive Training in Catalina

LAFD joins LASD dive academy for a joint recovery operation off the coast of Catalina.  The mission was to locate and move a sunken 30' sailboat that posed a navigational hazard.  

Deputies Dave Carver and Felipe Diaz discuss the lift mission.

Divers prepare for the search and recovery. 

After a successful recovery, LASD dive boat tows the lifted
vessel to deeper water eliminating any navigation hazard.  

PDOG Wharf Search

Academy divers prepare to sweep under Berth 55 prior to the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in San Pedro.

Academy Divers Recovering Stolen Property in Bear Valley Lake

Academy divers line search for evidence as part of an investigation.  

The Special Enforcement Bureau Emergency Services Detail Dive Team from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Bear Valley Police Department and conducted a detailed and difficult search for stolen property at the Four Island Lake area of Bear Valley.

Helicopter Dive Operations

LAFD Fire 2 arrives at Castaic Lake for Helo dive op's
training with LASD

LASD Air 5

Fire Boat Mates Dave Bender and Todd Hix
following a long day of helicopter insertions
  

Additional photos

Special Feature- The “Cutting” Question

“Diving Education and Safety is a never ending process.  The day you loose the desire to improve your knowledge or skills, is the day you should hang up your regulator for good!”


By Lt. Tim Morin

Riverside County Sheriff Dive Team

So, you’re on a mission in limited visibility water and can barely see your gauges to check your air status.  Your team has been in the water for over four hours looking for what you have just found.  As you collect data for the report you will soon be writing, you feel that ever annoying yet recognizable tug somewhere on your SCUBA system.  It does not take long for you to realize that you have become entangled with multiple strands of both mono filament fishing line and what appears to be lines that your own team has introduced to the scene.

Being the superbly trained diver that you are, you calmly squint for a look at your gauge.  “No problem, plenty of air”, you think to yourself.  You stop and think in order to resolve your own problem as you have been trained.  You reach for your cutting instrument, your handy dandy dive knife with its serrated edge and line cutter, cool!  With the precision of Jim Bowie himself, you begin to hack your way out of your predicament.

As you begin the task of cutting your way out, you say to yourself, “Self, this is not as easy as it is supposed to be.”  Your breathing begins to increase as your workload rises and anxiety sets in.  Begrudgingly, you send line signals to your team above so they know there is a problem.  Help is on the way.   

As your back up diver arrives they see glimpses of what appears to be a Tasmanian devil spinning and slashing at the enemy with blade in hand.  Realizing that it would not be good to approach from the front, you are finally calmed when your buddy touches you on the shoulder and gives you the OK sign.  You relax as you feel what seemed like endless miles of line letting loose.  What had taken you so much energy and time to attempt with a knife, your buddy had accomplished in seconds with his $8.00 pair of EMT shears. 

Right about now you have drawn the line in the sand as a reader and jumped on one side of it or the other.  “What an idiot”, you proclaim!  “A knife works just fine in the hands of a competent diver.”   I agree.  However, let me point out some things that may change your mind. 

We have all heard the term “Muscle Memory” before, yes?  I discovered how prevalent this is quite by accident in past training with the RSO team.  While training for what we call stress inoculation, we built what amounts to be a cage constructed of PVC that is 10 feet long and four feet wide and tall.  With safety divers on both sides and in shallow water so the diver can stand up, the training diver enters the cage that is filled with crossed lines of various sizes to ensure beyond any doubt, that you will get tangled. 

The drill allows you to practice the skills of using your cutting tools in a controlled and safe environment.  It teaches you patience, to recognize where your problem is, to remain calm and not to frantically spin around.  Divers are allowed to enter the cage the first time and are encouraged to solve their problems without even using a tool.  After they are comfortable, they re-enter the cage with mask blacked out to simulate what most of us really dive in.

I was fascinated by what I saw.  From the most experienced divers, to the new boot on the team, cutting the lines with a knife presented some interesting challenges.  I could not for the life of me figure out why divers with thousands of dives and certifications galore were having similar problems as the folks with less than a hundred dives.  Then it hit me. 

How often throughout our lives have we used dive knives to cut things with vs. the thousands of things we have cut with scissors?  Muscle Memory!  Since we were kids, we have cut everything from strings and ropes to aluminum, pennies and your brother’s favorite pajamas.  Sorry mom!  It should not surprise each of us to hear that it is easier to do. 

Prove it for yourself.  Grab a small rope and try it with your team members, but don’t tell them what you are doing.  Observe.  What you will see is that everybody uses the knife in a different way; some with more success than others.  With the scissors, everybody will cut the rope and look at you as if to ask, “What’s the big deal?”

I have watched as divers have almost cut themselves, their buddies, their air hoses, their own safety lines, and anything else they can grab as they pass through the entanglement cage.  Where it takes most experienced divers 2-3 minutes to clear themselves with a knife, the same diver can do it in half of that with scissors and with much less thrashing about and near misses.  Don’t take my word for it, try it yourself.  You don’t even need to be in the water. 

Now for those of you who are asking yourself who is this pacifist and how dare he suggest we give up our knives.  Slow your role cowboy, I never suggested you give up your knives.  Heaven forbid you give up that custom 10” titanium Spartan short sword you bought on sale at the local swap meet.  No, you may still need that for prying yourself out of some other predicament you get yourself into.  I am certain that is what most divers use knives for anyway! 

I am merely suggesting that scissors, EMT shears, have proven to be much more efficient at cutting lines than knives.  I suggest that all Public Safety Divers carry both and practice with both.  If you already do, then kudos to you!  By doing so, you become a stronger asset to yourself and your team mates.  I have implemented this with my basic students in the private sector as well.  It just makes good sense!  Stay safe out there!!                                                    

About the Author

Tim Morin is a Lieutenant with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO). He is a former member and instructor for the RSO Underwater Search and Recovery Team.  He is an active NAUI instructor, #6067, SDI, TDI, and ERDI instructor #13141and is also a past DRI instructor for DR-I, #2330.

He began his diving career at Long Beach State University in 1977.  He became completely engrossed in diving quickly becoming an assistant at the university and eventually graduating from the NAUI-ITC in 1981. 

With over 4000 dives to his credit, he continues to train and be trained.  With an active dive instruction, travel and recovery business, he continues to be very busy in the diving industry.  

Indianapolis Fire Dive Team

                                 
By News Staff Fox59

10:44 p.m. EDT, July 5, 2011

Indianapolis—

A man who fell into the White River while fishing was pulled out of the water late Wednesday evening.
Witnesses say a middle aged black male was fishing in the White River near Bush Stadium before he fell into the water just before 9 pm.

The IFD dive team arrived to the river and had divers in the water in less than 10 minutes from receiving the 911 call.  The diver found the victim within 30 seconds of searching and brought him to the shore.
Paramedics were able to begin working on the victim immediately.

He was taken to Methodist Hospital in critical condition.                                                        

Stricken Ship Cracks As Captain Faces NZ Court

Click here for more photos

TAURANGA, New Zealand (AP) — A cargo ship that has spilled hundreds of tons of oil since striking a reef off New Zealand's coast appeared to be breaking up in heavy seas, as its captain faced criminal charges in court Wednesday.

A vertical crack was apparent from the deck to the waterline of the Liberian-flagged Rena, which ran aground Oct. 5 on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island. About 70 containers have fallen off the deck of the 775-foot (236-meter) vessel as it has listed increasingly in the worsening ocean conditions.

Maritime New Zealand, which is managing the emergency response, described the crack as a "substantial structural failure" and warned that the stern may break away. Three tug boats were mobilized to hold the stern on the reef while efforts are made to remove the oil from the ship, or to tow the stern to shallow water, the agency said in a statement.

Weather on the reef was terrible Wednesday, with swells up to 16 feet (5 meters), Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Jones told The Associated Press. The brutal conditions were making it impossible for a salvage crew to board the ship, he said. Without the salvage crew aboard, oil cannot be pumped out of the ship.

"It's appalling," Jones said of the weather. "Everything is still in a holding pattern."

Forecasters were predicting the swells would ease to 6 feet (2 meters) by Thursday, at which point salvage crews might be able to try to board the ship, Jones said.

The piles of containers that remain on deck have continued to move, making it dangerous for salvage crews to work on board. Six vessels have been mobilized to intercept the drifting containers and other debris in the water.

There were 1,368 containers on board, 11 of which contained hazardous substances, the maritime agency said. The containers with hazardous materials were not among the 70 that had fallen overboard, Jones said. Still, it is highly likely that more containers will topple off because of the rough weather and the ship's steep list, he said.

The 44-year-old Filipino captain, whose name has not been revealed publicly, was charged with operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk and was released on bail Wednesday at Tauranga District Court. The ship's second officer is to face a similar charge on Thursday.


The captain's lawyer, Paul Mabey, requested that Judge Robert Wolff withhold his client's name because, he said, "there is a real potential that some persons may want to take matters into their own hands," the New Zealand Herald reported on its website. It also said the grounding occurred on the captain's birthday.

If convicted, the captain could face a fine of up to 10,000 New Zealand dollars ($7,800) and 12 months in prison. His next court appearance is Oct. 19, when authorities say more charges are likely.

Maritime New Zealand commander Nick Quinn said his priority remained cleaning up the oil.

"Until now, we have had a light oiling of beaches," he said. "This will significantly increase as more oil washes ashore over the coming days."

The government has demanded to know why the ship crashed into the well-charted reef in calm weather, but the vessel's owner has given no explanation.

Maritime New Zealand estimates that between 220 and 330 tons (200 and 300 metric tons) of heavy fuel oil have spilled from the hull, leading New Zealand's environment minister, Nick Smith, to call it the country's biggest maritime environmental disaster.

Officials believe the ship had about 1,870 tons (1,700 metric tons) of oil and 220 tons (200 metric tons) of diesel on board before it started leaking.

Clumps of oil have washed up on pristine beaches near Tauranga. Maritime New Zealand spokeswoman Anne Coughlan said 200 oiled birds had been found dead and 41 others were being cleaned at a wildlife emergency center.

Witnesses said dead fish were also washing ashore as local volunteers with plastic gloves and buckets worked to clean the oily clots from the white sand.

In a statement, the owners of the vessel, Greece-based Costamare Inc., said they were "cooperating fully with local authorities" and were making every effort to "control and minimize the environmental consequences of this incident." The company did not offer any explanation for the grounding.

Public Safety Diver Monthly

In This Issue of PSDiver Monthly:

 *****

WATER RESPONSE TRAINING COUNCIL

The first brick of the foundation has been set!

  ****

Lexington Fire Department Dive Team

  ****

VideoRay International Partnership Symposium 2011

Perspectives from a first time participant

 

  ****

 Saltwater Aspiration Syndrome

 

   *********************

Regular Features:

News and Information for Water Rescue and Recovery Teams -  Found on the Web -  Events - Diving Medicine - Continuing Education

CLICK HERE to Download PSDiver Monthly Issue 89

CLICK HERE to Download PSDiver Monthly Issue 88

CLICK HERE to Download PSDiver Monthly Issue 87

CLICK HERE to Download PSDiver Monthly Issue 86

Portland Fire & Rescue Dive Team

September 23, 2011

Portland Fire & Rescue Dive Team Locates Car, Victim after Seawall Breach

Portland Fire & Rescue responded to reports of a vehicle that entered the Willamette River. Initial reports indicated that around 2:45 am, a car left the Hawthorne Bridge and landed in the river. However, upon further investigation it was determined that the vehicle apparently was driving eastbound on SW Salmon Street and for unknown reasons went through the Salmon Street Fountain, breached the seawall at Waterfront Park, and entered the Willamette River.




Firefighters, including Portland Fire & Rescue's Dive Team, responded at 2:58 am. Four firefighters specially trained as divers began a rescue operation to locate the car in the river and search for possible victims. Divers located a Toyota Camry in the river and brought up a single victim at approximately 3:27 am - a female in her late 30's or early 40's.

　

Baltimore Fire Department Dive Rescue Team

See their website

http://bcfddiverescue.com/

Virginia Police Officer Dies During Training

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- A veteran member of the Police Department's dive team died Tuesday after struggling to breathe while submerged during a training exercise at Oak Grove Lake Park.

Officer Timothy Schock was taking part in search-and-rescue training around 11:45 a.m. when he had difficulty breathing, according to a statement from Police Chief Kelvin Wright.

When Schock surfaced, he told his team partner, who was with him during the training, that he couldn't breathe, Wright wrote. Schock's partner immediately tried to give him his own respirator, "but under the stress and duress of the situation, Officer Schock pushed away the apparatus and went back under water," according to Wright.

Divers on shore helped get Schock back to the surface and onto land, where they performed CPR, according to Wright. Emergency crews from the Fire Department continued lifesaving efforts.

The officer was taken to Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Wright said the circumstances of Schock's death are under investigation.

Schock worked for the department for 16 years, including about eight on the dive team, police spokeswoman Kelly O'Sullivan said. The officer, whose age was not available, had a teenage son, she said.

Schock is the third Chesapeake police officer to die in the line of duty in the past six years. In October 2005, Officer Michael Saffran, 45, was fatally shot while responding to a bank robbery. In January 2008, Detective Jarrod Shivers, 34, was killed during an attempt to serve a search warrant.

How Prepared Is Your Safety Diving Team for a Bridge Collapse?

BY WALT “BUTCH” HENDRICK AND ANDREA ZAFERES

Public safety diving (PSD) has gone from being an “exotic” within a fire or police department to the norm. The size of the department, whether it is career or volunteer, or the amount of water in the jurisdiction doesn’t seem to be a criterion for establishing such a team. Despite the growing number of teams with decades of experience, the key question of the day, sadly, is the same as it was more than 20 years ago: What is the mission of a PSD team? What levels of training and maintenance are required for the operations the team intends to perform? “(See “Training and Maintenance Requirements for PSD Teams” on page 76.) How can we establish regional specialty dive teams to ensure reasonable response time for mass-casualty underwater emergencies? And, in the absence of that, what is the Go/No Go risk assessment for local teams during the immediate potential lifesaving part of the emergency?
The catastrophic collapse of the eight-lane I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in August has made it more imperative than ever that these questions be answered. Such a collapse sends trucks, cars, trains, and human bodies into the water—in this case, the Mississippi River. In addition, twisted metal, cables, concrete, and other debris were scattered and piled on top of each other in every direction, some in the most tenuous ways.

Click here to enlarge image

(1, 2) These sonar images show the old river bed and the road decking and trusses of Kimberling City (MO) truss bridge. The total depth is 175 feet. The sonar was above the bridge, and there was a great deal of wave action, which distorts the images by causing reflections. Lake Taneycomo was created at the site, and a dam also was ultimately constructed. The old bridge remains today, many fathoms below the surface. The waters of the lake caused it to submerge before it could be dismantled. [Photos by Lee Summit (MO) Underwater Recovery Unit.] Click here to enlarge image

This disaster gave new meaning to underwater search and rescue/recovery (US&R/R) or water search and rescue/recovery (WSAR/R). A bridge collapse water operation is similar to urban search and rescue/recovery, with added dynamics.
What are these dynamics? First, water adds pressure differentials¹ that can cause lung overexpansion injuries, ear barotrauma, and other minor to potentially life-threatening gas-bubble injuries. There is a constant need for a source of breathing gas, which is used up more quickly as depth increases. The dynamics may likely include the following:

• Zero visibility and even blackwater. Not only will the diver not be able to visualize the debris, but the debris may be sharp, hanging tenuously, or ending in seriously confined spaces. The divers would require highly trained tenders to continuously guide and monitor them. Just as the divers cannot see, the tenders also cannot see the divers unless they are using specific types of very expensive sonar, which may not work when inside the debris.
• Currents.
• Floating and hidden hazmat problems in which the divers are immersed.
• The need for properly anchored operational platforms, such as boats or floating barges.
• Short search times (a maximum of 15 to 25 minutes) because of air management, diver and tender concentration capabilities, cold stress, loss of hand dexterity from heat loss, dehydration, diver rotation, and other issues.
• Aquatic animal concerns such as water moccasins, alligators, snapping turtles, and less-threatening critters such as eels and fish that bump you in the blackness.

UNDERWATER SAR/R VS. US&R/R TEAMS

Let’s examine some of the basic ways Underwater SAR/R teams differ from US&R/R teams.

Uniformity in Training

US&R/R teams can come from all over the country and be trained in similar techniques and operations. Training facilities around the world, like Reykjavik, Iceland, teach procedures similar to those taught in the collapse school in the Calgary Fire Department Training Academy in Alberta, Canada. US&R/R teams have a trained, unified command structure and understand safety procedures and how to use the proper equipment for the job at hand. They have trained backup teams.

(3) In rescue mode, victims are not bagged on the bottom. Teams need to practice how to bring victims up while keeping the airway as dry as possible. For recovery situations, divers practice bagging bodies and body parts underwater. (Photos courtesy of authors.) Click here to enlarge image

On the other hand, Underwater SAR/R teams are rarely similar. Within a single county, you can have teams that wear wetsuits and sport masks and octopuses who use handheld tether lines with buddy divers. Then there are other teams in vulcanized rubber drysuits, full face masks, quick-release pony bottles, harnesses with locking carabiners, and highly trained tenders who can run safe and effective solo tendered-directed dives. The former teams have a contingency plan of “send the backup diver down when the diver rapidly pulls the line and the backup diver feels around the needy diver to figure out what the problem is.” The latter teams have well-practiced blackwater contingency plans with diver-to-diver hand signals, a graduated system of help-line signals, and contingency equipment.

(4) Well-practiced contingency plans are a must. These two fire department divers are practicing using each other’s quick-release gas switching blocks while wearing gloves over their hazmat dry gloves. When diving in debris-filled environments with currents, contingency divers should have a way of providing an entrapped diver with additional air sources, such as a surface supply line, without removing the diver’s mask. Click here to enlarge image

How can these teams in the same county provide mutual aid to each other on a bridge collapse site when they cannot assist each other on standard calls? The answer is that they cannot. And the bigger question is, are any of these teams trained and equipped to respond to such a call?

(5) Debris divers need dexterity when searching, to assist in managing entanglements and to search for a small body part (finger) that may be within the diver’s reach. Items such as carabiners and quarters are used as search objects in basic search classes to develop this dexterity. Click here to enlarge image

The majority of dive teams have basic training only; they dive in sport diving-configured equipment and often have poor and only tabletop self-rescue plans. Usually, there is poor funding at best for professional training and equipment. Where can PSD teams even go to get training for such large-scale incidents as a bridge collapse when they realize they need this training? Only a couple of professional companies do this type of training.

(6) Divers need to learn how to feel debris underwater to help prevent and manage entrapments and entanglements and move debris to access bodies. Click here to enlarge image

Federal and State Regulations

Where do the state or federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration come into play in relation to PSD teams? Are they still exempt when it comes to confined-space operations, which bridge collapse dives can be? Are they exempt when the job requires commercial or military diving capabilities by divers and tenders who have hundreds or thousands of hours of experience instead of PSD divers with fewer than 50 to 100 dives?

What Are the Benefits?

In US&R/R, victims have been saved after days or even weeks (up to 16 days) of entrapment, which is very different from Underwater SAR/R, where the only people who can be saved are those on the surface or, in extremely rare circumstances, in a location accessible to divers who can reach them while they are still viable.
Victims submerged in vehicles usually have no air pockets in which to breathe or survive. To survive, submerged bridge collapse victims would have to be in a totally encapsulated airtight pressurized environment with a volume of air large enough to dilute the exhaled carbon dioxide to prevent suffocation.

Visibility

On land. Once the dust has settled, artificial lighting can be introduced in any number of ways, anything from handheld to stationary halogen. Practically every fire and rescue company in our country carries portable high-intensity lighting. Thousands of feet of cable can be run to support a single light source or a passage for access. Once lighting has been established, rescuers can see and can focus on specific items of danger. Rescuers can plan the reaction of an action—how to support an item to remove another item. Visibility allows for planned movements, thereby reducing the extent of the unknown danger.
Underwater. If there is no visibility because of turbulence or particles in the water, no amount of light can change it. You won’t even notice a 10,000-watt light. An infrared unit that can see in the dark but cannot light up the area can see only what it is looking at. Without light, every movement is a danger; actions can require three times the amount of planning and measuring before anything can be done. Unless they have been taught some tricks, divers may not even be able to monitor their own remaining gas supply. Visibility, or the lack of it, is typically our number-one issue.
Sonar can be used to help map out areas of debris that can be viewed by the sonar. But, sonar cannot read through concrete or other materials; it does not work like an X-ray machine reading through a body. So where a US&R/R technician can hold a light around a corner to peer into another space, sonar may be completely ineffective. The key difference is that US&R/R technicians see the collapse for themselves in live time. Divers only have access to sonar pictures when they are sitting on land or on a platform. They cannot access these visuals while diving.

Currents

On land. Usually, there are no currents in US&R/R. The definition of a land scene is that there is no water in the scene. Once part or all of the collapse is submerged, that location becomes an underwater scene. The Minneapolis bridge collapse was no longer a land scene. Only divers could enter the underwater part of that scene, and currents existed only in the water.
Underwater. Currents are a major issue. First, divers should dive into water with currents greater than one-half knot in a downstream manner, since currents greater than this make it very difficult to move divers back and forth parallel to shore.
The accuracy of the search can be seriously compromised, and divers can become overexerted and have far greater air consumption rates. Most importantly though, what is the contingency plan for performing an effective rescue of your own when diving from shore in currents greater than one-half knot?

(7) Stationary platforms that can be moved at will are necessary to work from on a bridge collapse site. These Nashua (NH) Fire Department boat operators are learning to perform hurricane anchoring in water up to four knots. (Photo courtesy of authors.) Click here to enlarge image

We have met teams who perform such dives, but we have not met teams who can physically and realistically demonstrate effective contingency plans for divers who are entrapped or entangled in fast-water dives performed from shore. Currents have the potential of moving debris at any time; the constant force is an unknown on all objects underwater. Put a diver in the wrong place and at the wrong angle to a current as little as one knot,⁴ and the resulting force can be such that the diver may require assistance to get out. One knot is a physical movement of 100 feet of moving water per minute, or 1.7 feet per second—a force of approximately 15 psi on the diver’s body. A force of three knots equals 16.8 psi on the legs and 33.6 psi on a body stuck or not physically moving.
In moving water such as urban rivers, there is the constant threat of surface and subsurface moving debris such as logs, couches, and tires. They can injure divers. If a diver becomes trapped by such debris, the force pushing against the diver can be increased by the additional surface area of the item that is also affected by the current.

(8) To prepare for the blackwater of a bridge collapse incident, divers should always dress without looking so that they learn how to manipulate their equipment completely by feel. The fact that this diver is using his eyes to close his chest strap could be an indicator that he may not be very confident should he have to remove his buoyancy compensator device to get out of an entrapment. Notice the spread-out hose wrap on the pony regulator hose. Only the pony hose has this wrap, which allows divers to easily feel it with thick gloves should it become disconnected from the neck strap. (Photos courtesy of authors.) Click here to enlarge image

And, keep in mind that in a low- to zero-visibility river, none of this is visually avoidable.
The risk of a diver’s becoming entrapped against debris by current goes up when the amount of debris or the current increases. Bridge collapses definitely increase the amount of debris and number of obstructions, which in themselves can increase currents. So it is a double risk.

(9) At minimum, divers should be wearing hazmat tested suits and full-face masks, true redundant air, and electronic communication systems. If there should be a truck with a higher-level of hazmat contaminants submerged from a bridge collapse, this diver and tender would not be wearing appropriate personal protective equipment for the conditions. Click here to enlarge image Read More

Chicago Fire Dive Rescue

Air Sea Rescue

The Air Sea Rescue Unit was established in 1965, where they provide search and rescue services for 37 miles of lakefront, an extensive river system, numerous lakefront venues, and the largest harbor system in the U.S. 

Chicago’s busy lakefront offers the Air Sea Rescue Unit unique emergency challenges including, assistance to boats in distress, water rescues and air search missions. Divers assigned to the Air Sea Rescue Unit are trained under public safety rescue diver guidelines specific to Chicago’s needs and particular environment. 

All pilots are trained in helicopter search and rescue, and hoist rescue techniques patterned after nationally recognized standards. The Air Sea Rescue Unit uses two (2) Bell 412 EP helicopters to aid in their efforts. This equipment is used for multi-mission roles, which include administrative, law enforcement, and primarily search and rescue flights. The unit also has dive rescue vehicles equipped with the latest available communications devices, full facemask and dry suit dive equipment, and lighting for night operations. They also have a dedicated swimming pool for training the members.

Battalion 6 Multi-Company Drill

Fire Boat 4 pumps to the deck monitors at a Battalion 6 multi-company drill

Boat 2 supplies land companies using master streams

New Website Feature

Introducing new website features

Now get the latest search, rescue and recovery news with daily updates of incidents 
around the country.
  
Also follow the LAFD Rescue Dive Team by signing up for email updates of the website.

See the news feed in the left column

LAFD Divers Participate in Public Safety Dive Training

Members of the LAFD Rescue Dive Team as well as members from LA County Fire USAR Task Force participated in a Public Safety Dive Training course hosted by the Riverside County Sheriff Office (RSO) Dive Team.   The courses, PSD I and PSD II were two separate 40 hour courses and part of the RSO dive academy.  "The courses were well organized and comprehensive.  It was a great opportunity to train with one top law enforcement dive teams in the state" said Bill Evans, Backup Diver from Fire Station 49-C.

Steve Meiche, Firefighter from fire Station 49 organized the fire department participation. "I would like to say that the RSO Dive Team is an exemplary professional organization of committed and loyal members.  They are highly competent, most of their members possess advanced dive ratings, instructor certifications and have advanced technical dive experience.  Most impressive though, is that they are a true "TEAM".  Every member exhibited a commitment to a team effort throughout the entire program, it was truly admirable and appreciated" stated Meiche.   "We have a lot to learn from this team and others like them.  We really need to strive in developing the professionalism, camaraderie and commitment they have" Meiche continued.

Mate Todd Hix and an RSO diver prepare for a search and recovery operation

Training video from the confined water training.  

This portion of the training focused on diver safety, team work and mitigating dive emergencies.

Team Skills
 Divers are challenged by completing a series of obstacles as a team then swap scuba equipment while buddy breathing





 Entrapment
Divers navigate through an entrapment prop to experience the difficulties and stress of freeing themselves when fouled by lines and debris.  Divers first navigate with full visual then with masks blacked out.

  

 

Dive Training

Deep Dive Training

LAFD Backup Divers prepare for a deep dive on the wreck of the Avalon.  Mate Todd Hix finalizes the dive plan.  This dive was the final certification dive for the new Backup Divers.  

With the completion of this dive, the Backup Team completed a 40 hour dive training academy certifying the members and all LAFD dive SOG's.

 

 Victim Rescue Drill

Divers surfacing after locating a drowning victim at a depth of 30 feet.  The dive team conducted a sweep search of the location last scene.

On the surface, Divers Curtis Ogle and Chad Crouthamel, Fire Sation 49-B swim the mock victim to Boat 3 for resuscitation.

All Boat Drill
Fireboats stage outside Fire Station 49 for a small vessel firefighting drill

Lines Aloft Shipboard Firefighting Drill

Boat 4, with Boat 3 backing up, nose in for preparation to send firefighting lines aloft at a shipboard firefighting drill on the U.S.S. Lane Victory.

2-1/2 and 1-3/4 firefighting lines on the deck

Hoisting the lines

Firefighters board the ship from the water side

 

 The confined area of the engine room

Towing Operation

Members from Boat 3, Boat 4 and Engine 49 participate in a towing drill in the main channel.

LA Port Police Regional Law Enforcement Maritime Training Center

Located next door to LAFD Fire Station 49, Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano toured a new training facility for law enforcement at sea Monday and discuss heightened security measures to combat terrorism at the Port of Los Angeles.
 

Napolitano toured the Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Police Chief Charlie Beck and other dignitaries. The center will provide state and local agencies with updated training on maritime boardings, arrest procedures, vessel identification, searches and counter-terrorism procedures, officials said.

The course will be based on Federal Law Enforcement Training Center(FLETC) curriculum, and will be developed jointly by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Port Police, Long Beach Police Department and FLETC staff.

The five-week program trains law enforcement personnel on various boating laws, maritime intelligence and how to spot terrorist threats or weapons of mass destruction that could pose a danger to cargo and cruise vessels.  Instruction will include the nation's first curricula approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and California Emergency Management Agency.  Police officers across the country can now undergo five weeks of maritime security training at a new operations center that opened Monday at the Port of Los Angeles. 

Classes will be held at the new $16.1 million Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center in San Pedro, which was funded by federal and state grants. The facility is equipped with classrooms, a helicopter landing pad and floating docks. 

The new training facility also is expected to help relieve a backlog in training law enforcement officials on federal security protocols, Napolitano said. The first class at the Port of Los Angeles began two weeks ago with 24 officers. 

Vessle Fire

Engine 112, Light Force 48, Engine 101, Boat 2, Boat 5 and Battalion 6 responded to a 55' fishing vessel well involved with fire on the main deck and pilot house.  Engine 112 initiated fire attack from the land side backed up by Light force 48.  Boat 2 and Boat 5 assisted from the water front.

Click on pictures to enlarge