Rapid Diver News

[Rapid Diver]

FD 1 dives into water rescues



By Anne Lautzenheiser
St. Tammany News
There was a rather unusual group of swimmers hitting the pool at Cross Gates Athletic Club in Slidell this week.

Along with the sunbathers and toddlers splashing in the fountains, several members of St. Tammany Fire District 1 were donning scuba gear and jumping into the water. The group was in its first day of training with the Zeagle Rapid Diver system, a compact set of scuba equipment for aiding in underwater rescues.

According to FD1 Capt. Pat McCloskey, the department has considered the idea of acquiring rescue diving gear for quite some time. Recent drowning deaths spurred the agency into action.

“We are surrounded by water in this area, so we’ve wanted to do this for several years, but we didn’t quite know how to go about it,” said McCloskey. “Then in the last year, there was one drowning near Eden Isles, and two in Eagle Lake, so we knew it was time to move on it.”

McCloskey contacted Rick Sutton, owner of Coral Reef Dive Shop. Sutton helped direct them to the Rapid Diver program, and then volunteered his time to lead the training.

A Master Scuba Dive Trainer since 1995, Sutton has logged over 2,000 dives. He has trained a number of members of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, and said the firefighters, some of whom were already certified divers, were “very comfortable” in the water.

“Their reaction was fantastic,” said Sutton. “A lot more people showed up for the training than we had planned, because they are really excited to do anything that’s going to help them save more lives.”

Sutton said that while the firefighters are already familiar with using compressed air in a self-contained breathing apparatus, which help provide breathable air when fighting fires. Using them underwater is a little more involved, however, and Sutton said they rose to the challenge.

The system includes a lightweight diving harness that can be slipped on in less than a minute, plus a small air canister suitable for a dive of about 15 to 20 minutes in water of moderate depth. It was initially developed for the military, who needed a versatile, easily deployed system for certain missions on the water.

Public safety agencies and first responders around the South, where waterways are more plentiful, began utilizing the system. It is reported to be especially useful in areas of low visibility or difficult shore entry.

Officials at FD1 estimate the equipment can save up to 30 minutes when beginning water rescues. About a dozen members of the department will take part in the initial training, and will be based at three specific engine companies: Eden Isles, Central in Olde Towne, and Brownswitch Road. After a two-week period of training at Cross Gates, the department will begin working with a stripped-down vehicle submerged in one of the local waterways.

According to Chief of Administration Chris Kaufmann, the idea is to supplement the sheriff’s office Marine Division Search and Rescue Team.

“We’re looking at it as a partnership, a way of adding to our commitment to saving lives and property,” said Kaufmann. “If someone is trapped underwater, this will allow us to get down there and do as much as possible until the sheriff’s office gets there.”

Sheriff Jack Strain said he wholly supports the endeavor.

“People don’t realize that drowning doesn’t just happen out on the lake; it can happen in a small pond in a subdivision,” said Strain. “Anytime our fire and police can get additional training to work together, it makes us stronger agencies and gives us a stronger community.”

Here are some more photo's:

[Rapid Diver]

Two separate accidents involoving waterways keep Golden Gate and North Naples Rapid Response dive team busy!

The accident occurred around 9 a.m., said Collier County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michelle Batten. The Sheriff’s Office and the North Naples fire department responded to the call.
North Naples fire Deputy Chief Jorge Aguilera said divers from both agencies jumped into the water to pull Dorestan out. Batten said the doors to the truck were closed, but divers managed to pull Dorestan out of the vehicle.
Dorestan was underwater 10 to 15 minutes, according to the Florida Highway Patrol report. He was transported to NCH North Collier Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead at 9:42 a.m.
Dorestan was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. It was unclear whether alcohol was involved.
Sunday morning’s accident wasn’t the only accident involving water this weekend. North Naples fire responded to a similar accident Saturday night.
Aguilera said his department received a call of a vehicle in the water around 10 p.m. Saturday. That accident occurred at the Quarry on Immokalee Road, when a vehicle veered into a lake near the entrance.
Four people were in the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Three of the passengers were able to get out of the vehicle, but the fourth person was unable to get out, Aguilera said. Divers from both North Naples and Golden Gate fire departments pulled the person out of the vehicle.
That passenger, Aguilera said, suffered injuries and was transported to NCH North Collier Hospital in critical condition.
Two accidents involving water in such a short time span isn’t a normal occurrence, Aguilera said.
“It’s rare. It doesn’t happen that often,” he said. “But we’re surrounded by water and we have a very robust rescue dive team.”
No further information about Saturday’s accident was immediately available.

Note: The quarry accident was a successful rescue.

[Rapid Diver]

Rapid Diver was chosen as the covert dive system of choice to raid a ship full of "Pirates"

See the clip here:

[Rapid Diver]

Go to MSTCI.NET for more information about the Tactical Swimmers Course that is now available:

[Rapid Diver]

Learn the latest fast SCAN techniques with the new Search and Rescue 1197 Side Imaging system, plus MARK your targets with the latest high speed Zodiacs then DIVE your targets with the latest Rapid Diver Tactical dive system.

Contact Chris chris@RapidDiver.com for more info.

[Admin]

An inspection and maintenance program for the Rapid Diver system is now available for all Government agencies. PM or Email for details. Chris@RapidDiver.com

[Rapid Diver]

A big congrats goes out to the Long Beach FD for their direct safety support of Travis Pastrana's record setting jump New Year's Eve. Below is the Official Red Bull clip featuring the Long Beach FD Dive Team.

[Rapid Diver]

Acting Lieutenant Jesus Padilla was recently honored and awarded the 2009 Distinguished Public Service for Firefighter on October 21, 2009, by The Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce at an awards breakfast banquet held at the Naples Hilton. Jesus Padilla was nominated by his department and was selected to receive the award.



Padilla was cited for valiant efforts as a diver to rescue the last of four persons in a car submerged in a lake with zero visibility. Although the victim he rescued survived only two days, Golden Gate Fire Chief Bob Metzger said of Padilla,"He faced and overcame profound challenges in locating the vehicle, establishing its orientation and making the risky decision to enter it to try to save a life."

Jesus Padilla was hired as a firefighter for The Golden Gate Fire Control & Rescue District
on March 10, 2003. He was promoted as Driver/Engineer on February 26, 2005, and
on to Acting Lieutenant on September 13, 2008.

[Rapid Diver]

Congrats to the Cocoa Beach Fire Dept for employing the Rapid Diver System.



They have already made a modification worth mentioning, check out this harness cutter (and window breaker)





For quick filling on scene, check out this adaptor:

[Rapid Diver]

Rapid Divers were used in the successful rescue at the Perth Red Bull Air Race







First Red Bull Air Racer Crash
from: http://jalopnik.com/5518815/first-red-bull-air-racer-crash

The Red Bull Air Race just suffered the first crash in its seven year history. Brazilian pilot Adilson Kindlemann survives plummeting tail first into Perth's Swan River after his engine stalled in the middle of a chicane.

The Red Bull Air Race is an international series of races that typically take place over water near major cities. Specially built race planes navigate tight turns around pylons and other obstacles specifically erected for the event. The Air Race will come to New York for the first time this June, flying over the Hudson River between Manhattan and Jersey City.
Kindlemann was knocked unconscious during the accident and would have drowned if it wasn't for the Air Race's crack emergency response team, which had divers in the water with the crashed plane in under a minute. Kindlemann only suffered whiplash injuries in the crash.

[Rapid Diver]

How do you rescue a downed pilot in 30 seconds even though even though the crash site is hundreds of meters away? Use a high speed PWC!

Here are some pictures from the Cocoa Beach Rescue Team:

[Rapid Diver]

If you are interested in doing some dives with your Rapid, or would like to try a Rapid Diver we will be hosting a dive each month at the Phil Foster Park (under the Blue Heron Bridge).

The water is crystal clear and warm, and we dive at slack tide. PM me if you are interested in joining us!

Here is a picture:

[Rapid Diver]

Rapid Diver has set the bar once again for rapid response diving this time during a recent Homeland Security scenerio training evolution...read on:




Engineer Jake Beckman of the Golden Gate Fire Department climbs back aboard a Collier County Sheriff's Office boat during an emergency training exercise in the Gulf in coordination with Collier EMS and local fire districts on June 9, 2010. The crew responded to a scenario in which an aircraft from Naples Airport crashed five miles off-shore of the Naples Pier. During the exercise, Divers located crash victims and the plane's black box. Greg Kahn/Staff

From: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/jun/09/diving-dummies-emergency-responders-multiple-agenc/

NAPLES — Some gulf fish swimming five miles out from Naples Pier may have come across a confusing scene on Wednesday.
There, underwater, a plastic dummy lay on the gulf floor near two black boxes, while about a dozen scuba divers spread out searching for them.
This was the scene of a unique training exercise, bringing together multiple emergency response agencies in Collier County to test their ability to respond to a small plane crash in the gulf.
Boats and dive teams from Collier County Sheriff’s Office, City of Naples Police and Fire department, and fire districts from North Naples, East Naples, Isles of Capri and Golden Gate were called out into the gulf for the marine search and rescue exercise.
Once they reached the site of the fake crash, divers plunged into the gulf, in search of bodies and debris.
The functional exercise was called Operation Fathom – though it could have just as easily been called “Diving for Dummies.”
But Joe Frazier, the county’s Homeland Security coordinator, said the training scenario was serious business.
“It’s designed to determine how well our (departments) respond to a downed aircraft in the gulf,” Frazier said.
Similar events have played out in real life in Collier County.
Collier Sheriff’s diver Jim Baker recalls a downed single-occupant aircraft off the Naples coast about seven years ago. There were no survivors, he said, but he had to search the aircraft for evidence.
Frazier said a key to this drill was testing the coordination between multiple agencies that had recently formed the Marine Emergency Response Community (MERC) to work out any kinks.
“It’s really a plan or procedure that combines all the marine aspects in the county,” said Mike Swanson, a deputy chief at North Naples and MERC coordinator.
Swanson said that it’s useful for these agencies to work together because marine equipment used in emergency response is limited in the county.
The drills allow all of the participants to play out their role in a given scenario, he said.
On shore, representative of the departments gathered in a mobile command center — a large bus with radios and computers — to practice communication of the coordinates of the crash.
One of the conclusions that came from the drill was the need to have multiple radio channels for communication in large-scale emergencies, said Swanson.
The more complicated the situation, the more difficult communication becomes, he said.
In this case, there was too much information to be relayed to too many sources for just one channel.
The most promising conclusion the drill provided was the expertise of the diving teams in their various roles, Frazier observed.
For most divers participating in the drill, searching for dummies and debris is nothing new – though the partnership between fire districts and the sheriff’s office was different.
However, divers from Golden Gate got the opportunity to experience something they rarely do in their own district – salt water.
Divers from the landlocked district typically do search and rescue in murky canals and lakes — the kind that most people won’t even fish in — said Bill Moyer, a Golden Gate battalion chief.
The 15 feet of visibility was welcomed by Golden Gate Fire Lt. Jason Sellers and Engineer Jake Beckman, who typically can’t see what’s in front of them when they dive. They were able to spot the dummy in minutes.
Climbing back onto the boat from the clear water, Sellers quipped, “We definitely need some salt water in our district.”

[Rapid Diver]

St. Tammany News

If somebody within Fire District 1 in and around Slidell gets into trouble in water, they can be reassured that firefighters will be able to rescue them, thanks to a member of the Slidell Police Department.

Thursday morning, Slidell police officer Mark Michaud was honored by the FD1 for training firefighters on a device called a Rapid Diving Vest. Michaud is no stranger to the underwater world. He’s been diving professionally and for pleasure for the past 11 years. The device is a vest that has an oxygen bottle attached to it, plus a regulator and mouthpiece. The vest can also be inflated for floatation. A rescuer has 10 minutes of oxygen, and it can be quickly donned for fast rescues.
Slidell police officer Mark Michaud, fourth from left, accepts a plaque from Fire District 1 Battalion Chief of Special Operations James Rhyce in gratitude of his training firefighters in the use of the Rapid Diving Vest to use for water rescues. From left is Slidell Assistant Police Chief Kevin Foltz; Fire District 1 Chief of Administration Chris Kaufmann, Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith, Michaud, Rhyce and Fire District 1 Chief Larry Hess. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)


“It is used just for rescue and to keep the firefighter or police officer safe,” Michaud said.

For the past year, Michaud has been training FD1 firefighters with the device. The firefighters first go to Coral Reef Dive Shop where they learn the basics of scuba. Then Michaud takes over and gives them an intense eight hour lesson in how to use the vests correctly and safely.

Full story here

[Rapid Diver]

From KTVU.com:

For a community surrounded by water on all sides, the need for adequate water rescue training for emergency responders has become a top priority in Alameda after a suicidal man drowned Monday in front of police and firefighters.

In years past, the fire department had a comprehensive water rescue team, interim Fire Chief Michael D'Orazi said before the City Council tonight, a program that included shore-based and surface-based tactics.

But after several years of struggling to balance budgets and making sacrifices, D'Orazi said, the program deteriorated to a state that left firefighters unable to respond Monday, when Raymond Zack, 53, waded neck-deep into the frigid water at Crown Memorial Beach and remained there until he lost consciousness.

Fire department paramedics on the shore were not permitted to rescue Zack because they were not certified in water rescue, the department's acting deputy chief of operations Daren Olson said Tuesday.



More info

[Admin]

Here are some pictures from the IADRS Conference:

[Rapid Diver]

The Rapid Diver System is featured on the Discovery Channel.

Here is the link to the show: http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/april-2014/daily-planet---april-8th-2014/#clip1079255

[Rapid Diver]

[Sponsored content]