Oregon Public Broadcasting Ice Diving

Oregon Public Broadcasting and Omni Divers Ice Diving - February 2012

OREGON - DIVING LOCATIONS: Lake of the Woods, Klamath Falls, OR
DATES: February 24 - 26, 2012
COST: Class - $295 - Text - $35 - Certification fees - $25
PREREQUISITE: Advanced Open Water Certification or evidence of deep, navigation, and night dives

More Specific Detailed Information on February Ice Diving 2012!

We have started the preparations for the ice dives. We will stay in motel rooms in Klamath Falls, Oregon. There is also rooms at Lake of the Woods Resort. Check their webpage http://www.lakeofthewoodsresort.com/.

We will do a presentation in Klamath Falls on Friday evening at 6 pm at the new Omni Divers location. In addition, Oregon Public Broadcasting crew will be onsite to collect topside and underwater video footage of our activities. Please stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

We will get organized earlier than Friday night in order to see what everybody is going to bring as their share of shovels, tents, tarps, ropes, ice harnesses, cross cut saw, gas for the snow blower, the snow blower, blower oil, carabiners, dry clothing bags, several extra pairs of gloves, waterproof boots, dry socks, etc.

We need to provide special safety measures overnight so no one will fall in the hole, i.e. flagging, poles, etc.

Ice Diving March 2011: We have now established a date and will start in earnest for the preparations for the March 2011's ice dives. We will soon make room reservations in McCall, Idaho.

We will do a presentation in McCall on Friday evening at 6 pm at the new McCall Fire Station, McCall Idaho.

We still will need to get organized earlier than Friday night in order to see what everybody is going to bring as their share of shovels, tents, tarps, ropes, ice harnesses, cross cut saw, gas for the snow blower, the snow blower, blower oil, carabiners, dry clothing bags, several extra pairs of gloves, waterproof boots, dry socks, etc. We will need to think of special safety measures overnight so no one falls in the hole, i.e. flagging, poles, etc.

About the only gear we don't have for ice diving is the tent, we can try to get the same tent we used last year from one of the ice divers or we can fabricate one from blue tarps and pvc pipe.

 

We have been getting interest statements and now we are getting deposits to verify how much really serious interest we have in ice diving in February in Klamath Falls in Oregon and in March 2011 in Idaho.

 Please email omnidive@omnidivers.com if you are interested or want additional information.

Black Water Training

Posted on: February 13, 2012

You never know when you will find yourself in it….BLACK WATER!

Most of us got into diving because of the shows we had seen on TV, a movie we watch or stories from friends we had heard about their diving vacation. The images of diving in our heads were that of good visibility, colorful fish and wrecks that we could see from stem to stern. As a result of this, we took a diving course that was designed to take us to these places and see these sites. But is every dive conducted in good visibility water?

Visibility in water is generally referred to by horizontal and not vertical; this is a very important piece of information because it does affect the way visibility is expressed. Another important piece of information is what affects visibility. The two primary factors that affect visibility are suspended particles and light penetration through the water. For the most part, few divers enter into water that has zero visibility, but a select few do. Zero visibility is general defined by visibility as far as the end of arms reach to not being able to see your hands in front of your mask.

Diving in zero visibility is more of a mind game than anything else, but there are a lot of techniques and skills that are needed to perform these types of dives as safely as possible. The skills and techniques are not part of any sport level course such as open water certification, and they should never be learned without a trained professional supervising closely.

Just the entry into water with zero visibility can present some pretty dangerous possibilities. There have been several documented cases where divers performed improper entries and drove their legs knee-deep into soft mud and could not reach the surface unassisted. There is also the problem of not being able to see what is in front of you or over your head. Many lakes and reservoirs are man-made and have trees still standing just below the surface which present a long list of dangers for the unsuspecting diver.

The ERD 1 diver course addresses these issues and teaches the needed knowledge and skill sets to perform these types of dives in these conditions.

A common training practice, under properly trained supervision, is to simply have divers run a simple compass pattern and watch to see how often “the heads pop up.” The overwhelming claustrophobic feeling is just too much for some to handle or overcome. Don’t worry; Tenders are just as important on dives like these. On the other end of the diver spectrum is the diver that, while running the compass course, only surfaces after “running aground” in the cat tails and duck weed to raise their heads grinning to exclaim…”ran out of water!”

Wondering which diver best describes you? Get out with the Team and do some training…first chance you get!

For assistance preparing and scheduling training for your Team contact ERDI

http://www.tdisdi.com/wpsite/erdi/ or call 207.729.4201

Please email omnidive@omnidivers.com if you are interested or want additional information.

Recent Cruise Ship Grounding on Tuscany Coast Launches Teams into Action

Posted on: February 13, 2012

ERDI pleads with PSD TEAMS to train hard and be prepared!

By now no one in our field is unaware of the demise of the cruise liner Costa Concordia, just yards from the Italian coast. The dangers that it presented to the passengers and crew can be best summed up by the confirmed loss of some 17 souls on the ill-fated cruise.

As the operation moved from search & rescue to recovery, new concerns arose. From the ecological damages to the environment, the ship’s rapping of the ocean floor, as well as the massive amount of fuel on board, it brought back memories of the USA Gulf Coast fuel related disaster. Dangerous work conditions like these require extensive training and teamwork for optimum safety and mission success.

Multiple agencies show CNN how they train for underwater disasters in light of the cruise ship disaster in Italy.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/01/26/lok-wian-ca-emergency-dive.cnn

For assistance preparing and scheduling Training for your Team contact ERDI
http://www.tdisdi.com/wpsite/erdi/ or call 207.729.4201

Please email omnidive@omnidivers.com if you are interested or want additional information.

Crime Scene Investigation vs. Non-Evidence Recovery

Posted on: February 13, 2012

By Bo Tibbets
The differences may at times be subtle BUT they do exist, so be prepared!

Does your Public Safety Dive Team perform both Crime Scene Investigations as well as Non- Evidence Recovery Operations? While many agencies are being tasked to perform with less resources and tighter restrictive budgets, we must not overextend ourselves with our capabilities. It is imperative that we exercise our trained ability to the level in which you are working and not beyond.

Let’s take a closer look as public safety divers. What is our role? What environments do we work in? What are we searching for? As crime scene investigators, we are piecing puzzles together to determine if a crime or foul play was actually committed. Could it have been a suicide or can we conclusively say it’s an accident? We, as crime scene investigators, are often times working backwards to find answers such as: Who committed the act? When was it carried out? Did the crime scene take place here or was the evidence discarded in this body of water? If it is in fact a body, who is the victim and what means were used to perpetrate the crime?

Most of the time our public safety dive teams are working in a recovery capacity. We are looking for evidence that may include weapons, cash registers, motorcycles and vehicles. Ultimately, they will be tasked with searching and recovering a body. Make note: “it is imperative that the operation being performed is safe and within the scope of your training and capabilities.”

At some point your dive unit may be asked to recover items that are non-evidentiary in nature. Perhaps an individual forgot to set their parking brake and the vehicle rolled backwards into a lake. Perhaps an individual’s water pump hose broke (in board motor) and the boat filled with water and sank. Does your public safety dive unit recover items such as boats and vehicles which have been submerged accidentally? What about someone who is driving while intoxicated and drives into a canal (the individual is able to extricate and get out on his own)? Does your dive unit recover the vehicle? Do you consider an ice dive to be a confined space? If so, you may be working under Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) within the US, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for the UK and Diver Certification Board of Canada (DCBC) in Canada regulations, and there is a long list of others depending on the country in which you are working. I encourage you to ask yourself, “Is this a commercial dive operation or public safety dive operation? Am I taking on more liability than meets the letter of law?”

You may want to examine the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Competency Standard for Diving Operations (CSA Standard Z275.4) for Canada and in the US OSHA Regulations (standards 29 CFR) Part 1910, Subpart T regulations or whichever governmental standard you are held to within your respective country or province. It defines the regulations that are put in place for commercial divers and also gives public safety divers and scientific divers an exemption (in the US) under the statute. It is the responsibility of your team to define under which umbrella you are operating so as to limit the liability exposure you may face should an injury or death occur during the water operation

For assistance preparing and scheduling training for your Team contact ERDI

http://www.tdisdi.com/wpsite/erdi/ or call 207.729.4201

About the author:

Bo Tibbets’ career includes a marketing and economics degree from Colorado Mesa University and he is the CEO of PSDS – Public Safety Dive Supply/Services. He has been training and providing equipment to public safety personnel for over seven years within the realm of water operations including dive, swift water and surface ice operations. He is credentialed as adjunct professor under P.O.S.T. and teaches drowning investigations and various public safety dive programs at Colorado Mesa University in conjunction with the criminal justice department and the Western Colorado Peace Officers Academy. He is often called to instruct various law enforcement and fire service personnel with water related operations around the country and works closely with federal, state and local investigative entities with under water forensic investigations.

Please email omnidive@omnidivers.com if you are interested or want additional information.