By SCOTT COOK
Ensure you’re ready for a safe and efficient dive
If your department is like most, your diving equipment rarely gets used, especially for training. Actually, your “department” diving equipment probably is the personal gear of a few of the department’s personnel.
With that in mind, this month’s Quick Drill covers setting up a basic set of dive equipment with a wet suit and a simple search pattern you can practice in the station or on the apron before moving on to the water.
Drill 1: Setting up the Diver
For this drill, the instructor should be the person most familiar with the dive gear.
Setting: Apparatus floor or training room
Duration: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: One or two sets of dive gear and a tarp. (If your department uses your gear, and you’re the “No one touches my stuff but meOne or two sets of dive gear and a
tarp. (If your department uses your gear, and you’re the “No one touches my stuff but me” type of dive-gear owner, get over it. You’ll need help from your fellow firefighters to make a dive evolution go smoothly.)” type of dive-gear owner, get over it. You’ll need help from your fellow firefighters to make a dive evolution go smoothly.)
Step 1:
Lay out the tarp and remove the gear from the storage bag(s) or box(es). If some of the gear is already assembled, disassemble it. Lay it out on the tarp in the order in which it should be assembled. Note: The weight belt is not pictured here; generally, the diver will preassemble the weight.
Step 2:
If your personnel are unfamiliar with the items, explain each piece of equipment.
Step 3a:
Start assembling the equipment.
Step 3b:
Blow out the tank valve by pointing it away from everyone and quickly opening and closing it to blow out any cobwebs.
Step 3c:
Ensure the packing is in the tank valve.
Step 3d:
Assemble the tank and the backpack/
buoyancy compensator (BC), depending on which one your diver chooses to use.
Step 3e:
Assemble the first stage and the tank valve. Tighten only hand tight. Open the tank valve, listen for leaks and check the air pressure.
Step 3f:
Ensure the regulator works by pressing the purge value in the regulator. Air should flow when the valve button is pressed.
Step 3g:
Attach the BC inflator hose to the BC and fill the BC with air by pressing the fill button.
Step 4a:
Prepare to dress the diver. (This step only covers wet suits, since most of us have them. If your department uses a dry suit, drill on that.)
Step 4b:
Unzip all the zippers. If you have zipper wax or a plain unscented white candle, wax the zippers.
Step 4c:
Fold the bib and back of the Farmer John pant inside out and down to the crotch of the garment. If you have some, sprinkle Wet Suit Eze powder into the legs of the garment to make it easier to don and doff. Sprinkle the powder into the arms of the wet suit jacket and booties as well.
Step 4d:
Help the diver don the wet suit. Once the diver is wearing the suit, watch for signs and symptoms of heat stress. Note: On the scene, you can complete steps 3 and 4 simultaneously to save time.
Step 5:
Help the diver attach any ancillary equipment they will use, such as a knife, a dive light or communications equipment. Carry any other equipment to where the diver requests.
From this point, let the diver decide how he or she wants to dress. When performing a shore-based dive, some divers prefer to dress in the water; when operating from a boat, divers usually dress in the craft.
Drill 2: A Simple Sweeping Search
When I first started diving for the fire department, we would send two divers down to just swim in the area where a victim might be located, but it would often take hours to find them. Soon, we learned a search line single-diver technique that dramatically cut our search efforts and time. In the 13 years since, we’ve found all our drowning victims within 30 minutes of the diver’s arrival. If your department currently does not search this way, you should seek instruction on this technique from a qualified organization, such as Dive Rescue International.
Setting: Apparatus floor or station driveway
Duration: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: Your department’s dive search line, or a 200' section of polypropylene rope.
Step 1:
Choose the points where you will turn the diver. Select definite, non-moving markers such as a tower, a tree on the opposite shore, or a buoy. (On the scene, witness interviews will determine these points.)
Step 2:
Choose an anchor point location where the line tender will stand.
Step 3:
Tie a large loop in the diver’s end of the search line. Review the rope signals with the diver:
• From the tender to the diver:
1 tug — Are you OK?
2 tugs — Make your turn.
3 tugs — Surface.
4 tugs — Danger, hug bottom.
• From the diver to the tender:
1 tug — I’m OK.
2 tugs — Turn complete.
3 tugs — Victim located.
4 (or more) tugs — Help, send standby diver.
Step 4:
Send out the diver with the search line. (On the scene, the diver will be sent out roughly 50 feet beyond where witnesses last saw the victim.)
Step 5a:
Start the search. The diver places the end loop over his hand and begins to sweep in the appropriate direction with his arms outstretched. The tender stays in one place and holds the line.
Step 5b:
When the diver reaches the predetermined turn point, the tender tugs—and I mean tugs—the line two times. The diver turns 180 degrees, switching the rope loop to the other hand, and tugs two times to signal the turn is complete. The tender pulls in about three-fourths of a body length of line. (On the scene, the tender will watch the diver’s bubbles to determine when the diver has reached the turn point.)
Step 5b continues until the diver finds the victim or runs out of water to search. If the search is unsuccessful, you may need to re-interview witnesses and expand or move the search area.
When the diver finds the victim, he gives the three-tug signal. In recovery mode, the tender should then tie a knot in the search line and get a compass reading on the direction of the line. The diver should tie the line to a leg or arm of the victim so as not to lose them, surface and prepare for the recovery. Law-enforcement personnel may request a cursory search around the victim to determine if there are any unusual circumstances at the scene, such as a weapon.
In rescue mode, the diver should grab hold of the victim, give three more tugs and be pulled in only if the diving situation permits a rapid change in diver depth. Do not risk diver injury in a rescue attempt.
