First body recovery of '07

[Yotsie]

At 1123 hours on 03/09/07, just 45 mins after putting my butt in bed,(I'm one of the graveyard supervisors for patrol) the pager goes off and the Nextel is ringing. The team commander is on the phone rattling off info on a mission. Did I mention I had just fallen asleep?

Since #1 is on vacation for this month and next, and the commander is on his way to Tahoe, I have the ball. 13 year old boy I'm told, jumped out of a rubber raft before hitting the low head damn on the Tuolumne River at S. 9th St. in Modesto. He surfaced three times, then went missing. Fire was onscene with their boats, our air support was flying the river.

We arrive at 1245 hrs and set up shop. One diver is detailed to re-interview witnesses. The rest come up with a search plan and put it into action. Long story short, 3 hours later, we find the kid right in the general area of the point last seen. We took our time getting there due to hazards, of which I'm putting a more detailed report together to post later. My team did an outstanding job. The local rags take on these events are posted below.


http://www.modbee.com/local/pmupdates/story/13366645p-13988412c.html

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13370340p-13991482c.html

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13373059p-13994031c.html

 

[Jcsgt]

Good job on the recovery.

It must really suck to pull someone that young out of the water, but then someone's got to do it.

 

[Boater Dan]

Yotsie:

Good job on the recovery. You were able to bring closure to the familiy and that is the best that we can hope for on many of our dives.

We have low head dams on our river locally and they are known as killing machines for a reason. I'm certain your divers had difficulty with current and debris.

"Everyone" went home that day. Good job once again.

Dan

 

[ReefGuy]

Congratulations on the recovery. Looks like y'all did a great job under difficult conditions. You should be proud.

 

[BladesRobinson]

Brother Yotsie,

I saw your team on CNN Headline News and was wondering at the time if you were on site. Your guys were looking SHARP! Everyone was wearing thermal protection, PFDs and helmets. I was called to do some commentary on the incident and I relayed to Chuck Roberts and the viewers that your guys were obviously doing a good job. I was confident that the victim would be recovered knowing the professionals were on site.

GREAT JOB and please pass my kudos on to your team members. They were doing everything right when the news helicopters were flying overhead and it is obvious that things continued to go right after the helicopters left the scene.

 

[Yotsie]

Thank you all!!!

I am extremely proud of the team. We have had some bumps in the road in the past 18 months, but last Friday proved we are back on top of our game and ready to improve upon what we have built.

Blades, thank you for you kind words. I will relay this to the team.

We have a multi-agency training day coming up and from the input I received at our de-briefing, we will be re-visiting this incident. The location is very demanding and the team wants to train there to become more familiar with the various hazards.

It is tough to recover a very young person who has died so needlessly. We spent a good amount of time, after getting our gear back in service, de-briefing the incident. The close-knit nature of this team makes it easy for everyone to openly share their thoughts.

 

[sparkyjames]

After some one likes Blades tells you how good a job you have done with the team
I done guess it will mean as much from a FNG like my slef but


Grate job you and your team make me proud to be a PSD ( In Trainning ) but proud of the work we do and the service we provide as well

keep up the good work looking foward to the follow up post

Sparky

 

[Gary D.]

Congratulations on the successful and safe outcome to a very tragic situation. Just make sure EVERYONE involved debriefs so the tragedy doesn’t spread.

Enough plastic will get rid of low-head dams. They should all be blown up.

It never fails; the boss leaves town and things go to crap. Seems that it happens to us way to often so we just ground him. Along with the dive team he in-charge of all the back country calls be it missing people, snowmobile, plane or vehicle crashes.

I’ve been reading about it but have been just too sick to respond. I got my butt kicked with a case of pneumonia.

Spread a KUDO’s to your team.

Gary D.

 

[Yotsie]

Thank you Sparky and Gary!!!

Yes Sparky, you opinion does count....just as much as the others. I appreicate everyone taking the time to read and respond. I am putting the finishing touches on the report.

Hope you get well soon Gary!!!