Public Safety Diving

UNDERWATER VEHICLE EXTRICATION SPECIALIST

Prepare your team to safely assess, enter, search, and conduct victim extrication from partially or fully submerged vehicles.

Overview

COURSE OVERVIEW

Is your team responsible for responding to vehicles partially or fully submerged in the water? If yes, then this training is a must. Fire departments wouldn't let members extricate patients from cars without specialized training and practice sessions, so why will dive teams send divers into vehicles without proper training or equipment? This three and a half day program follows the same format, duration, maximum students, course set up and costs as RDS&R/R.

Schedule

COURSE SCHEDULE

DAY ONE

4-hour classroom session and First 1-2 hours of Day Two

• Review and preassessment test of RDS&R procedures and information
• What happens to a vehicle when it hits the water
• What happens to the passengers
• Site set-up, including decon station
• Additional necessary equipment – full face masks, four-wire communication systems, drysuits, bungee cords, etc.
• What happens to objects with air inside the vehicle – dangers
• Fuel on surface management
• Vehicle line tending procedures
• Vehicle back-up diver procedures: back-up becomes the primary diver's tender underwater outside the vehicle
• How to assess, approach and work around the vehicle in blackwater
• How to enter the damaged vehicle
• Victim search and extrication procedures – and what if the victims are not in the vehicle?
• How to use window punches underwater
• Dangers of using pneumatic tools underwater (these are skills for the Level II course)
• Dangers of carpeted conversion vans
• Diver contingency plans
• Review of patient handling procedures

DAY TWO

Morning land session – 3-4 hours

• Divers in full gear (plastic scuba tank) and blacked out masks work with tenders in one or more vehicles that have been set-up with many entanglements and with a few sharp edges.

Afternoon session – 3-4 hours

• Set-up the scene and perform searches and victim extrications with proper patient handling. If course is for law enforcement then full body mannequins will be placed in body bags underwater.

DAY THREE

• One hour lecture on the basics of Archimedes Principle and lifting techniques (these hands-on skills are part of the Level II program)
• 7-9 hours of dive operations including removing doors, steering wheels, etc. and replacing these parts to learn how to work around vehicles and how to work closely with back-up diver in blackwater – with and without four-wire communication systems.
• Practice breaking vehicle windows.

DAY FOUR

• Half-hour classroom on lifting techniques
• 6-8 hours of dive operations that may include lifting the vehicle and one hour for written examination and final debriefing

Curriculum

PROGRAM TOPICS

Vehicle Incident Assessment

What happens when a vehicle enters the water

Passenger survivability considerations

Vehicle stabilization considerations

Scene assessment and setup procedures

Decontamination station setup

Equipment & Operational Readiness

Full face masks

Four-wire communication systems

Drysuits

Bungee cord systems

Vehicle extrication equipment

Fuel-on-water management procedures

Vehicle Search & Entry Procedures

Vehicle line tending procedures

Back-up diver procedures

Vehicle approach techniques

Blackwater operations around vehicles

Vehicle entry procedures

Victim search procedures

Victim extrication procedures

Hazard Recognition

Air-filled object hazards inside vehicles

Dangers associated with conversion vans

Sharp edge hazards

Pneumatic tool considerations

Diver contingency planning

Practical Skills

Window punch operations underwater

Vehicle search exercises

Victim recovery scenarios

Patient handling procedures

Door removal exercises

Steering wheel removal exercises

Vehicle component manipulation

Window breaking procedures

Lift & Recovery Awareness

Archimedes Principle overview

Basic lifting concepts

Vehicle recovery awareness

Lift planning considerations

Credentials

CERTIFICATION

Underwater Vehicle Extrication Specialist Level I

Contaminated, Overhead Environment and Penetration Dive Operation

Included in course fee: Underwater Vehicle Extrication (ANDI/LGS) for divers, Wall certificates for all students.

Divers and Tenders can purchase additional diver certifications (NAUI, PADI, and ACUC) and Underwater Vehicle Extrication Tender Certification (photo ID card, additional wall certificate and two decals) for $25 each ($26 if purchased after the last class day).