Rapid Diver in use by Maritime Security, Law Enforcement

[Rapid Diver]

Where and How are you using your Rapid Divers for Law Enforcement/Marine Patrol?

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Side Imaging and the Rapid Diver System go hand in hand.

Sub Sea Tactical (Rapid Diver Store) is now an official distributor of the Humminbird 1197c Search and Rescue Side Imaging System. I am also able to offer whole sale pricing to Government agencies.

PM me or Email ( chris@RapidDiver.com) for more information or to set up training/demo

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Tactical Swimmers Course utilizing the Rapid Diver Tactical is now available. Go to MSTCI.NET
for more information. Below are some pictures from the recent

[Admin]

SCAN/MARK/DIVE training now available to add to your existing training evolution. PM or email Chris@RapidDiver.com for more details

SHERIFF’S DEPT. ADDS SONAR UNIT TO PATROL BOAT


By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF


The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department has a new tool to assist them in locating drowning victims and stolen property that might have been dumped in the river.

Operations Commander Major Greg Bolin said a side imaging sonar unit has been installed on one of the department’s patrol boats, and early experiments indicate it’s going to be a benefit to the department.

“We’ve tried other things like underwater cameras and while we’ve still got them, with this sonar unit, we don’t have to rely on sight alone,” Bolin said. “We’re pretty confident that we’re going to be able to recognize a body, or even a stolen car on the bottom of the river.”

The idea that resulted in the purchase of the new sonar unit came after deputies were sent to the Warren area in May to help locate the victim of a drowning trapped in a vehicle after heavy rains.

The victim, LaTasha Strong, 32, of Warren, was discovered May 11. She was a passenger in a vehicle found submerged in flooded waters following a 34-hour search near the Flat Branch Creek bridge in Bradley County.

“The family asked us to come help so we sent one boat, and then a couple of weeks later, they sent a letter to The Commercial thanking us for getting involved,” Bolin said. “We got to talking about what we could do to make the job easier and some of our guys who are avid fishermen brought up the idea of a sonar unit, which a lot of fishermen use now.”

Search and rescue

After discussing the idea further, the department found a sonar unit made by Hummingbird which is especially made for search and rescue operations, and bought it with grant funds.

“It’s got a transducer that’s been mounted on the bottom of the boat that will allow us to see an outline of anything within 150 feet on either side of the boat, plus GPS charting and mapping features so if we do spot something, we can go right back to that spot,” he said.

June drowning

Discussing the drowning in Lake Saracen in June, Bolin said that while the department was able to get to the scene with a boat and recover the body in about an hour, he believes that if the new sonar unit had been available then, deputies would have made the recovery sooner.

The victim, Bobby Harris Sr., 39, of Pine Bluff, drowned in Lake Saracen June 17.

“This is going to cut down on not only the time involved and tell us where he need to focus, but also help ease the anxiety of family members, friends, and even the officers who have to be at the scene,” he said.

Full story here:
http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2009/07/04/news/news1.prt

[Rapid Diver]

Here are pictures from the Red Bull Air Race in Abu Dhabi

[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:

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Mark sent in these pictures. If you are looking for Rapid Diver training in the Slidell, La area you can contact Mark and Rick at 985-641-9888

[Admin]

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 hereDi

[Rapid Diver]

Sink to your death: Agencies do little to ensure motorists escape sinking cars

Story here:

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/dec/11/florida-drown-car-canal-lake-fatal-Mary-Catania/

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