Public Safety Diving

MOVING WATER DIVE SPECIALIST

Dives in currents greater than 1/2 knot require platform operational diving. Prepare your team for fastwater search and recovery operations.

Overview

COURSE OVERVIEW

Dives in currents greater than 1/2 knot require platform operational diving in most cases. After three knots diving can no longer be tethered and requires other procedures. The course content for your department depends on how fast the water is, underwater visibility, how well the divers/tenders can perform the basic RDS&R I skills, and available boats. The mission of the program is to always ensure that all team members can go home when the job is done – and at the same time do the best job possible.

Schedule

COURSE SCHEDULE

FIRST DAY

4 hours classroom

• Pre-assessment quiz on RDS&R I safety standards and procedures, patient handling, etc.
• Review of the above information
• Fastwater lectures include:

What is fastwater?

Where is the victim most likely to be

How to figure out where to deploy the first divers and how to set up the entire search area - fastwater often involve large areas to search

Setting up a boat for fastwater and for fastwater diving

Anchoring the boat for fastwater diving

When can the operation be shore/dock based

Diving in fastwater

DAY TWO

• Begin in the lecture area and move to an area outside.
• Equipment modifications for fastwater diving
• Check that divers/tenders can dress rapidly – under 4 minutes
• Review the diver-tender signals
• Make sure the boats are fastwater diving ready
• Move to the water site with the boats – the skills covered depend on the speed of the water
• How to set up a buoy system to mark the search area
• Hurricane boat anchoring
• Search dive operations

DAY THREE

• Begin in the lecture area for a short debriefing and briefing
• Search dive operations including:
    • Entanglement contingency dives
    • Back-up diver contingency operations
    • Finding a lost diver

DAY FOUR

• On site all day, followed by a written examination indoors
• Team will respond in rescue mode as if it was an actual call to find a drowning victim
• Interview staff witnesses
• Make hard copy profiles and maps with witness information and plan the area of search
• Set up a large area search
• Look for a drowned mannequin
• Complete paperwork and debrief
• Written examination followed by an exam and program debriefing