•Chicago Fire Department Diver Dies During Rescue Attempt – Fire Engineering News
Chicago Fire Department Diver Dies During Rescue Attempt A fire Firefighter had reportedly become separated from his partner 05/29/2018 A fire department diver looking for a man who fell off a boat into the Chicago River on Monday night was separated from his partner underwater and was killed. (WGN9 video) CHICAGO (AP) — A fire department diver looking for a man who fell off a boat into the Chicago River on Monday night...
Body Bags
Bagging the body is important. Anyone who has taken our homicidal drowning class has heard that mantra. No one in law enforcement or death investigation would dream of dragging a body 30 feet, let alone hundreds of feet, without bagging it. Yet think of how many departments put a rope around a floater and drag it hundreds of feet or even a couple of miles without bagging it. Yes, the body may have been floating for miles without a bag...
Victim Retrieval
A pre-established protocol is essential for victim retrieval. When the team is looking for a body, there are many psychological effects on both the rescuer, and the victim’s family. If the team is in the rescue mode, meaning the victim has a chance of being viable. If the team is using a tender, a predetermined signal should be used to show the victim has been found. Once found the rescuer needs to get a firm grip on the victim...
Case Studies of Public Service Fatalities
The following case histories were compiled by University of Rhode Island researcher John McAniss. A 41-year-old fire captain carrying out a body search with a newly formed scuba team was retrieved from 30 feet after it was noted on the surface that his regulator was free-flowing. Autopsy showed drowning, but damage occurred before or during the accident, but the description of the event is consistent with ear rupture during the...
Four divers died as the result of an attempt to clear old cars
March 15, 1997, Central Washington Four divers died as the result of an attempt to clear old cars from an irrigation siphon. The first two divers broke through ice to enter the 40-degree water; one wore a drysuit, and the other wore a wetsuit. Each recreationally-trained diver had one tank, and they also had a shared emergency tank. They had planned to connect towlines to the cars that had been washed into the siphon from a connecting...