December 2017 WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Greetings, November for the MidWest Public Safety Diving Association. (MWPSDA.org). I honestly don’t know how to introduce this issue to you. In the past I have had a topic on my mind that steered My topic was “Safety and Risk Assessment for Public the entirety of the issue I was working on. This intro is Safety Dive Teams”. The day after the conference likely to ramble on, please indulge me for a bit. This issue ended another Public Safety Diver lost his life in the is the most unconventional I have ever published. Niagara River on a training dive. That was the third PSD fatality in 18 months and the second one in 2017. A while back I came across a diver and a dive team who had some pretty unbelievable claims. They were absurd I keep track of Public Safety Officer involved drownings. to say the least. Most of us on a dive team are usually tasked with surface rescues as well. Some may not agree that military The specific person I focused on claimed to have helped fatalities or those that occurred outside the USA should recover 40,000 bodies. What a load … Either he is be in the count but it is my work and research and I delusional or that was a misprint. And – that number count them. supposedly happened over a 24 year span. Over the 8,760 days that represents, he is claiming to recover When you look at the number of fatalities of Public Safety almost 5 bodies a DAY – 24/7! Officers, PSD included, I have documented 9 fatalities in 2017 and the year isn’t over. I was suspicious of these claims, so I began investigating him. I discovered interviews and even film footage of him 01-07-2017 Thembisile Hani SA – Jerry Mogoe- and his team in action. Slowly I began to realize there FF Drowned Flood Rescue Attempt - Update was more to the story. This was not a traditional dive 01-31-2017 Odisha India - Rakesh Behera - team but they performed the same jobs we recognize as Military – River Training public safety diving. 02-02-2017_Nashville_TN_-_Eric_Mumaw_- The more I found out the more awestruck I became. This _Leo_Rescue_Attempt.pdf is an organized team. They are “trained” and devoted to 02-15-2017_Lapai_Nigeria_- their mission. And, like most of us, are either very _Abubakar_Musa_LEO_Bee_Attack_Canoe_Accid underfunded or self-funded to the best of their ent.pdf circumstances. Reading about this team I had them in mind when I was developing a presentation I gave in 05-05-2017 Cache Creek BC – Clayton Cassidy – FF Flood Creek Inspection – Culvert Accident PSDiver Magazine Issue 117 2 05-27-2017 Fryeburg, ME - Nathan Desjardins – If one of them dies, there will be no report. The society LEO River Rescue Attempt they live in is not like ours. The bodies they recover represent a fraction of the suicides by drowning that 06-01-2017 Anderson Co SC- Devin Hodges LEO– occur in their country. Boat Accident Training 04-16-2017 Fort Hood TX - Lori Pohanka-Kalama Sometimes they get paid, sometimes they don’t. But – PSD Volunteer Trapped Under Dam Update when you wonder WHY they would do such an unimaginable job with NO gear, NO formal training and 10-13-2017 Buffalo NY – Craig Lehner – LEO PSD NO real logistical support – consider why YOU do the job. Training- Current- UPDATED These men and women died doing the job we do. It has taken months for me to wrap my head around this group of people – and they are not the only ones. There They are us. are more. Was there a training issue, a medical event, an When you read about their living conditions, the despair equipment issue or a simple mistake that caused these of their poor and what these divers do – you should deaths? In some instances we know enough details to discover that their reasons for doing the job are the same make a determination and in a few we can only speculate. as yours. But there is a man who runs a dive team who DARES TO The story is so incredible, this issue is focused on them. CLAIM he and his team recover, on average, almost 140 bodies a month! And NONE of us has ever heard of him or They are us. his team. Feel blessed that you have what you have; that you have Until now. equipment, support and whatever else that protects you. When you read the pages that follow remember those Flip back to the cover of this issue. There is an individual who have died serving the public, doing what it is you do. on the bridge, standing on the hand rail. If you look left and down, you will see another person about to enter the Dive Safe, If you would like to discuss water. Mark Phillips this topic or any other join Editor / Publisher our Facebook group They are the dive team. They are divers, they dive into PSDiver Magazine CLICK HERE TO JOIN the water to rescue when they can and recover the bodies that flow with the current of the canals they work. PSDiver Magazine Issue 117 3 We Are Public Safety Divers home doing yard work when a call comes By Mary White in and they have to go to work. A majority of the time the call comes in the Public Safety Divers are people. They are middle of the night or during Christmas men and women, brothers and sisters, dinner or your daughter’s school play, mothers and fathers; they are just like and that call must be answered, you anyone you know. They come from every must leave your loved ones and skip that walk of life. All have full time jobs long overdue night out because the besides their work as Public Safety person in need of help can’t wait, their Divers. Some are paid for the work they time is running out. That call is always do and some volunteer with local teams. answered so others may live. Some of those teams are even non-profit groups made up of all volunteers. But all We are viewed in many different lights, are there for the same reason. some good and some not very nice, but all come with the job and must be thought about carefully There is a tough job that needs done and nobody else while performing this work. Bystanders on a scene want will, or can, do it. These are the people who answered a to know “why aren’t they moving faster”, family demands very personal call to help those in need, to assist their they “do more, work harder, bring in more people and community and to keep their equipment, and bring my baby home”. neighbors, friends, loved ones and even complete strangers safe. They The public will arm chair quarter often have to bring someone very bad back every move the media told news and they’ve chosen to do this them you made and they’ll do so in work because something inside them all their uneducated ignorance and drives them to give of themselves, on every social media site there is they are Public Safety Divers. too. The real life of Public Safety Diving is Some may call us heroes and much different than you see on TV or occasionally you may even have in the movies. They don’t often jump people thank you, but if you expect from helicopters or off cliffs and you to receive either of those on an even won’t see one diver in the water alone. semi-regular basis, to put it bluntly, Most of the time these folks are at you won’t. PSDiver Magazine Issue 117 4 We work in all weather, and depending on your area of All of this is in an attempt to provide some insight to what the world that literally means ALL weather. Warm spring you may encounter working in the world of Public Safety days, very hot and humid summers, wet fall weather Diving. We share the disappointments because they are when the air is turning cold and the bitter bite of winter real and must be faced. We share our knowledge and with below zero temperatures and driving wind making training to best prepare you for the work that needs done wind chills that even a polar bear using the equipment we have and doing it says “I don’t think so”. all safely so everyone comes home! We must keep our safety in mind As a member of the dive team you will live during all of this because how much some of your very worst moments with help are we if we don’t get there or your teammates but you will also share can’t perform our jobs because of some incredible moments of joy and “this”. Sometimes the weather is a laughter so deep you’re sides will hurt for factor and a dive must be called off days. You’re going to look and smell until conditions improve because of terrible together at times and then have to the risk to diver’s safety. put on your Sunday best to go fundraise and meet with the public and answer all You will hear that word a lot, learn it, sorts of questions you didn’t think were remember it; it’s your number one even possible. word…SAFETY! We mitigate all these factors to the best of our ability and You will literally put your life in the hands funding, but most times, of those teammates and them in yours.