This is a little off topic, but is a potential issue with a new team. I dive with several of the divers on a local dive rescue team. On occassion I have had to bring some of them up when they panic or otherwise screw up. They are nice enough guys but really suck as divers. Some have not even gotten the bouyancy issue down pat. On a planned deep dive with a pair of them this wekend, I had an equipment problem and had to skip the dive. The look on the instructors face said it all - he wanted me along as support for these guys. That is pretty sad.
The lakes here are deep, cold, and dark and visibility can be severely limited. A 120 ft deep dive in 40 degre water with zero vis is a challange just to make the dive and even more so if you also need to run an effective search pattern in the limited bottom time available. The annual requirement to stay current on the dive rescue team is 12 dives which is not nearly enough to meet those challenges.
On one recovery a few years ago, the most likely search area was not covered effectively due to depth, low vis and minimally competant divers, who in my opinion, were not entirely honest in addmitting their search areas were not covered. The body was found 18 months later by rec divers specifically looking for the victim. The dive rescue squad insisted on making the recovery (because that's what they take everybody's donations for) and managed to botch it as well.
What really frosts me is that on one rescue where the victim had been down only 14 minutes in very cold water, the fire chief suggested the instructor on the team not go in the water as he was always the first one in the water. His thought was that it would be good to let one of the other divers go first. Stupid. Seonds and minutes count and if the rest of the team is slow that's too bad. To the instructors credit he went anyway.
On another rescue/recovery under the ice, they went through 3 divers before they found one with the skill and experience to actually get to the bottom and rescue the victim.
The principle requirement for membership on the team is that the diver be a member of the local police dept, fire dept or sheriff's dept. and diving skill comes a very distant second with minimal ability required.
Personally, if you are going to start a team, you need to commit to getting them the training to do the job right and they need to be committed to diving enough in all types of conditions to maintain that level of proficiency. This means they need to be in the water developing and maintaining skills virtually every week, year round.
My own biased opinion is that it is far easier to take an experienced and well trained diver and make him a member of the rescue squad than it is to take a well intentioned police officer or fire fighter and turn him into an experieced diver. I'd keep the membership options open and make team membership a competetive thing with tryouts and high standards for diving ability.
If you are limited to having city or county employed divers due to response time, insurance coverage, etc. consider using them for a "rescue" squad, but then also consider using more experienced volunteer divers on day two when it becomes a recovery effort. You'll get better results and risk fewer dive related injuries that way.
The lakes here are deep, cold, and dark and visibility can be severely limited. A 120 ft deep dive in 40 degre water with zero vis is a challange just to make the dive and even more so if you also need to run an effective search pattern in the limited bottom time available. The annual requirement to stay current on the dive rescue team is 12 dives which is not nearly enough to meet those challenges.
On one recovery a few years ago, the most likely search area was not covered effectively due to depth, low vis and minimally competant divers, who in my opinion, were not entirely honest in addmitting their search areas were not covered. The body was found 18 months later by rec divers specifically looking for the victim. The dive rescue squad insisted on making the recovery (because that's what they take everybody's donations for) and managed to botch it as well.
What really frosts me is that on one rescue where the victim had been down only 14 minutes in very cold water, the fire chief suggested the instructor on the team not go in the water as he was always the first one in the water. His thought was that it would be good to let one of the other divers go first. Stupid. Seonds and minutes count and if the rest of the team is slow that's too bad. To the instructors credit he went anyway.
On another rescue/recovery under the ice, they went through 3 divers before they found one with the skill and experience to actually get to the bottom and rescue the victim.
The principle requirement for membership on the team is that the diver be a member of the local police dept, fire dept or sheriff's dept. and diving skill comes a very distant second with minimal ability required.
Personally, if you are going to start a team, you need to commit to getting them the training to do the job right and they need to be committed to diving enough in all types of conditions to maintain that level of proficiency. This means they need to be in the water developing and maintaining skills virtually every week, year round.
My own biased opinion is that it is far easier to take an experienced and well trained diver and make him a member of the rescue squad than it is to take a well intentioned police officer or fire fighter and turn him into an experieced diver. I'd keep the membership options open and make team membership a competetive thing with tryouts and high standards for diving ability.
If you are limited to having city or county employed divers due to response time, insurance coverage, etc. consider using them for a "rescue" squad, but then also consider using more experienced volunteer divers on day two when it becomes a recovery effort. You'll get better results and risk fewer dive related injuries that way.
