Joining a PSD team

[Ed L.]

I have been diving for a quite a while and dive on a regular basis. A buddy I dive with is an instructor and also does dive training for another county down the hill from Tahoe. Never any question of joining their team or training with them. Although when they come up for PADI certification dives I go along to help fill out a buddy pair and get a few dives in. I am currently working toward my rescue diver course and dive master this year.

Another friend of mine is with the local county sherrifs dive team here at Tahoe and has suggested I should join the dive team and "get out of my comfort zone".

I am at a place right now where I am comfortable with my skills and abilities. I dive to relaxe and get away for a litle bit. I feel if an when I ever did get involved with a PSD team and search and recovery etc that my enjoyment of diving may come to an end.

Thought? Opinions?

Thanks for listening

Ed

 

[Gary D.]

Another friend of mine is with the local county sherrifs dive team here at Tahoe and has suggested I should join the dive team and "get out of my comfort zone".
I don't care what kind of diving your doing, there is a Comfort Zone. Even as a PSD there is a Comfort Zone that one should never get out of. Exceeding it could end a diving career and/or a life. You need to dive within your limits period!

I am at a place right now where I am comfortable with my skills and abilities. I dive to relaxe and get away for a litle bit. I feel if an when I ever did get involved with a PSD team and search and recovery etc that my enjoyment of diving may come to an end.
Do some hard thinking about it. Get a copy of this The ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNDERWATER INVESTIGATIONS and look it over first.Thought? Opinions?

Thanks for listening

Ed

Here is a link to the book.
http://www.bestpub.com/bookstore2.asp?Category=Search/Rescue/Recovery

PSD isn't for everyone, infact it's for a very few. SO, ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS. Have you been reading some of our posts?

Gary D.

 

[leam]

Ed;

First of all, welcome to the PSD forum! You'll find a good "signal to noise" ratio here, a lot of honest PSD thoughts, and some stong camaraderie. Even if I can't spell it, it's here.

I am a newbie to PSD and recently returned to diving. I've been training with our team for a couple months and probably 1/3 of my dives have been in a PSD environment. It has lowered some of my Rec skills like buoyancy (we tend to go in over-weighted) but it has greatly increased my confidence and organization in Rec diving. My dive buddy and I certainly don't demean Rec divers but we're in the gear up area, quickly helping each other, offering to help others, and in the water as soon as we can get there. I'd say except for buoyancy my Rec skills have greatly increased, as has my confidence.

I'd take Gary D's suggestion one step further. I've been thinking of writing up an "Intro to Recovery Diving" mini-class. You might want to ask your friend if you can observe one of their training sessions, and if at all possible have them help you into some black water. That seems second only to a victim recovery in determining whether or not someone is intersted in PSD work.

ciao!

leam

 

[suthnbelle]

Definitely check out the book that Gary gave you the link. I've got it and it will open your eyes for sure. Gary's also right about asking lots of questins. Believe me I've asked my fair share of Gary (thanks) and Rob (BigJetDriver) was a tremendous help to me this past year before I even joined a team. Fortunately, I have a few friends that are on other teams that I can go to with questions. In my case, I just had a personal desire to go into this type of diving (long story there). I have a blast training with the team and diving in blackwater doesn't seem to bother me....yet. Who the heck knows how I'll react when I do locate my first body recovery but I think the desire I have to do this will overcome any fears I may have. Right now it is all about preparation, training with the team and taking classes with PSD cert agencies and continuing to ask lots of questions.

 

[Rescuediver17063]

Ed, Gary gave you a great book to start your research into PSD. I have been training teams for over 20 years, and you would be suprised how many divers can not handle the situations. I always make a candidate help out on shore first, then they can see first hand what this specialized diving is all about. We have manatory counseling required for every diver involved with a body recovery as this is a special situation for the divers. This is not a job for everyone, think long and hard, as we have lost some great divers due to never wanting to get back in the water again after a recovery.
Best of luck with your decision