looking for advice

[trfollis]

I am looking for advice on which route to take on becoming a public safety diver. I am currently in law enforcement and have wanted to become a diver for my area for some time. if anyone has any advice on what I should do to have a descent shot at being a rescue diver( who to talk to, courses to take. etc...), please let me know. Thanks

 

[Yotsie]

I would first get a basic open water certification through a nationally recognized dive training organization. I would then seek out the team in your area and speak with the team leader about your intentions. They may allow you to come to some training as an observer, which should provide you a first hand look at what you will be doing. I would also dive as often as you can. Even though you’re using recreational gear, the more bottom time, the more comfortable you'll become underwater. There is a ton of books, manuals and training material. You took the right step by finding this place, but don't stop here, continue searching. Dive Rescue International and Life Guard Systems are two training agencies for Public Safety Divers. There are more. There is also several forums on Yahoo Groups which link to dozens of other resources for our craft.

Gary D. has several posts on this topic and I'm sure he'll jump in too, but this should get you started.

 

[trfollis]

thank you for your input. as you said this will get the ball rolling and i am getting ready to start my search and rescue course. once again I appreciate the board and the forums and anyone who can steer me in the right direction.

 

[Gary D.]

Welcome aboard.

What kind of department you with? How much exposure have you had to this field?

First off, a very important question to ask yourself is do you want to be a Rescue Diver or a PSD? They are not related.

See what your target team requires, hopefully it's more than sport certifications once you’re onboard. Is it a Recovery Team or a Rescue/Recovery Team? To be a strong Rescue Team you need take home vehicles with your gear set up 24-7-365.

Then don't start putting a lot of weight and time into sport classes as they are contradictory as to what PSD training is about. Not back up this and that but more towards the KISS system and becoming self sufficient.

Go through the PSD site and read as much as you can as everyone had made some very good contributions. AND, don’t get excited when we don’t agree with each other. Just like everything else we have our disagreements, work through them and move on to the next topic.

Hold off on equipment until you know what’s going on. A Rescue Team should all have uniform gear where a Recovery Team can have more of a mix. But the more uniform the better. Then think trucks for gear and not sports cars. Trucks are for working and sports cars are for playing.

You might want to start out getting this book and reading it from cover to cover. It’s a good start.
http://www.bestpub.com/bookdetail.asp?BookID=1058&Category=Search/Rescue/Recovery
There is a correspondence course you can take but you need to be a team member first.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

Gary D.

 

[BladesRobinson]

I would agree with Yotsie and Gary as it relates to getting GOOD diver education in your area before moving on to PSD. AQUASPORTS is a reputable dive center in your area and I saw online that they are a SSI Platinum training facility and an Aqua Lung pro dive retailer. The owner, Don Peterson is a Platinum Pro 5,000 Award recipient which means he has logged OVER 5,000 dives! That is a LOT of experience! One of their instructors (Kent Robertson) is also a career paramedic. The staff at AQUASPORTS can start you off with a great foundation to build your PSD training on.

Also, if you are affiliated with a Public Safety Diving team and your team requires you to purchase your own equipment, you may be able to get your gear through AQUASPORTS at a significantly reduced price, assuming you would qualify for the Aqua Lung - Public Safety Diving Program. You can potentially purchase Aqua Lung equipment at 20% to 35% off of retail prices! You will probably need an agency ID card and a letter on agency letterhead explaining that this equipment is used "on the job" for public safety diving.

As Yotsie pointed out, there are several agencies that specialize in public safety diver training. Because of significant bias I am not in a neutral position to recommend one over another. If you would like to hear the "biased" opinion, please send me a "Private Message" as I don't like to "market" on these open forums.

Gary's recommendation to purchase Bob Teather's book is an excellent one. That book is a "bible" for many professional public safety divers. You can also purchase the study guide (this IS marketing, sorry) and obtain an "Underwater Investigator" certification which might also help you in future training.

Best of luck! If there is anything "we" (forum members) can do, please feel free to post away. There are many talented people who post to this forum and they have some great ideas.

Regards,

Blades Robinson

 

[trfollis]

I want all to know that my experience in diving is limited to recreational and minimal at that. All the info so far seems to let me just jump in and not just get my feet wet, thank you.