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The Dangers and Procedures of HAZMAT Diving
The Dangers and Procedures of HAZMAT Diving
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Hazardous materials (Hazmat) diving can be exceptionally dangerous. Divers work in precarious conditions and regularly expose themselves to radioactive or other dangerous material.
But the dangers these divers face are minimized through intense training, durable commercial dive gear, and a thorough decontamination processes.
HAZMAT Dangers
Many bodies of water contain some sort of contamination. HAZMAT divers face a high level of contaminant exposure. They require specialized commercial dive gear, as well as intensive decontamination procedures, to ensure their general safety.
For divers working in mildly-contaminated water, gloves, a utility belt, and a simple dry suit with a sealed neck should suffice. For water that is 'lightly' contaminated, a full face mask is recommended.
Divers working in exceptionally dirty and/or hazardous conditions require a full dive helmet, a stronger suit, and other specialized commercial dive gear. For example, the Thor Contaminated Water Diving Suit is built for highly contaminated water, and features vulcanized rubber that is strong enough to resist contaminants, and pliable enough to accomplish critical underwater tasks.
For full-on hazardous material tasks, like those involving radioactive material, a full HAZMAT-ready suit may be required.
The Decontamination Process
No matter how strong your protective suit, and commercial dive gear may be, decontamination procedures are crucial. Not only are these processes necessary to ensure the diver’s safety, but they also protect the team, and anyone else who may be within chemical or radioactive reach of the decontamination area.
Decontamination procedures vary from job to job as the chemical, and HAZMAT profile for each dive area will be different. The more hazardous the elements in the water, the more thorough the decontamination process will be. However, the process also depends on the type of equipment used, and the level of protection the equipment offers.
Here are a few things to remember about the decontamination process:
Ready, Set, Dive
Although HAZMAT divers face several dangers within their profession, safety risks can be minimized through proper HAZMAT commercial dive gear, and decontamination procedures. With the proper training and certification, potential issues or concerns can be put at ease.
To learn more about HAZMAT diving equipment, and the options currently available, be sure to give us a call at Aqua-Air Industries today. We have a wide range of commercial diving products that can aid in HAZMAT and other diving jobs.
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Sunday, May 18, 2014
Crime
Scene Management and the Dive Team’s Role
Posted
on: April 23, 2014
by Patrick S. O’Boyle:
Without argument, many
existing public safety dive teams are volunteers that serve the community very
well, either as part of local volunteer fire departments, independent teams of
trained public safety divers, rescue squads, or search and recovery teams. Law
enforcement dive teams are a large part of the public safety dive team service,
and have a strong understanding of this type of crime scene management. In
recent months I have worked with sheriffs’ departments on missions and drills
and they have agreed – further work is needed among dive teams of all types.
Not long ago, I was
asked to critique a Dive Team Challenge hosted by a local law enforcement
agency and the dive team support they receive from a third party agency.
The scenario:
A camp scene at the
lake, two males, one female, a copious quantity of adult beverages, campfire,
tent and outdoor gear, and a remote off-road location adjacent to hiking
trails. The sun rose the following day and a group of hikers came across the
body of the female in the woods. Law enforcement was called and excellent crime
scene management protocols were followed. The camp site was found, with a male
sleeping off the night’s consumption of alcohol, some scratches and blood noted
upon his person. When detained and questioned, he admitted to killing his two
camping mates, one in the woods, and the other in the lake. The local dive team
was activated.
Upon arrival of the
dive team, they were told to remain clear of both the campsite and the trail to
the woods. I watched the boats enter the water, the sonar equipment get
activated, gear being assembled, secondary gear being staged, and a full
briefing with diver and tender assignments at the edge of the lake just
adjacent to the campsite. No scene management was established by the dive team.
I stopped the drill
and called the investigating officer and the dive team leader to the
observation area. “Is anything wrong so far with this operation?” I asked. I
was told by the dive team leader that EMS was called to start medical
clearance. This was a good answer but not the one I was looking for (that
should have been done at activation). The investigator stated he called for
more LEO help. Okay, good again, but not correct. To trigger some previous
training that each of these responders is required to have, I used the word
HAZMAT. Okay, homerun. They immediately removed the gear, divers, staging, and
created a warm zone and hot zones, logs and personnel times, separate
entrance/exit areas, and a command structure was implemented.
My point is that we
are part of the evidence chain. At times we may need to prompt the agencies
already on scene. In my region, the Sheriff’s Department is the command agency
on subsurface rescue and recovery. Local first responders arriving first may be
operations, and then we set up a dive branch and dive operations. These are all
typical NIMS protocols. When operating in rescue mode, these issues are
different, but we operate with the Sheriff’s Department and until proven
otherwise, consider it as a crime scene, or at least a potential crime scene.
In rescue mode, save
the life and operate safely. Once time and conditions change, and the
determination to switch to recovery mode is made, step back, consider potential
crime scene applications and work with the command structure to contain the
scene.
- Create your own warm and hot zone depending on
operations (land vs. boat).
- Have a dive team member become your scribe, document
all activity.
- Request a LEO liaison to be with dive team
leader/operations.
- Operate under your training and protocol; you are in
charge of the dive.
- Take the ERDI Crime Scene Investigation course!
On my team, we recover
the victim subsurface in an approved body bag. We also take soil and water
samples using sealable laboratory 30ml vials and place them into the body bag.
We have received many compliments from crime scene investigators for this little
action. They are always impressed. This takes me to another point, if we can
impress a crime scene investigator we can take it further.
I am currently working
with ERDI Training and the North Carolina Medical Examiner on a medical
examiner-approved diver course that will be reviewed in the coming weeks. My
goal is to have this available to all teams and delivered by medical examiners
and ERDI instructor trainers so that all the effort of our public safety dive
teams will be vertically integrated into state Chief Medical Examiner’s Offices
and have them influence our protocols. So far it has been received with
excitement and a cooperative spirit from each of the states I have contacted.
The end result of all subsurface recovery has the strong potential to be an ME
case. Let us bring them into our service and work with them as partners so that
they see the valuable work we do. It can only make us better teams and servants
of the community.
Look for this
specialty course in the very near future. I thank ERDI Training, the Medical
Examiner’s Office, and Air Hogs Scuba of Garner N.C. for their guidance and
assistance getting this to our public safety dive professionals, either paid or
volunteer. For my goal is to make us all professionals in our service.
The first step of any
dive team is to understand that crime scene management is critical. ERDI takes
great effort to provide proper documentation and scene management paperwork to
any dive team operating under ERDI training programs. The ERDI Crime Scene
Investigation course is the first step toward learning how to secure an
operational scene and maintain evidentiary security. Education is the key to
operational success and any dive team can do well by partaking in this scene
management program.
Patrick S. O’Boyle
APP, Paramedic, DMT, FEMA Medical Specialist, Dive Team Captain, Public Safety DM, NC Death Investigator
APP, Paramedic, DMT, FEMA Medical Specialist, Dive Team Captain, Public Safety DM, NC Death Investigator
This
entry was posted in ERDI News.
Are You Prepared to go to Court?
Are
You Prepared to go to Court?
Posted
on: April 23, 2014
by Thomas Powell:
Sworn law enforcement
personnel are trained to deal with crime scene procedures and to follow
evidence recovery protocols. Those sworn officers, deputies, or agents are then
taught how to present information to a court room or court official in an
honest and proper method. In a similar fashion, dive teams are taught to follow
basic standards that must then be adapted to local needs and historical
precedence. The problem is that many volunteer dive team members have never had
to sit before a court room or defense attorney looking for problems associated
with dive team actions. In most cases, volunteer divers have never even been
trained on how to handle a court room scenario.
A court room can be a
scary place. A defense attorney may seek to ruin a diver’s credibility, or find
issues related to operational procedures. No dive team member wants to let the
“bad guy” get away, or harm the credible image of his or her dive team. For
this reason, a diver may crack under pressure, or become a problematic witness.
Imagine you are a 19 year old volunteer who has joined a dive team in an effort
to help your community and protect the people you love. You work hard, learn as
much as you can, always show up, and establish true team dedication. Then one
day you are the person who is tasked with recovering a child murder victim,
surrounded by potential evidence, at 20 feet in zero-visibility water. You do
your best and follow every standard you have learned in a methodical fashion.
At the end of the day, your team and the local law enforcement representatives
are proud of you and your actions.
Now fast-forward six
months to a local court room where the evidence you collected helped bring a
“bad guy” before the legal system. The defense attorney begins to question your
methods. What did you miss because you could not see? What have you forgotten
after six months of time? The attorney makes you question your skills and what
you accomplished. Your concern begins to show before the jury, and you grow
visibly upset because you know you did your best and now someone is questioning
your abilities. This scenario could lead to the elimination of evidence and the
release of a person who may have been truly guilty. This is a scenario that
must be avoided if at all possible.
To compensate for a
lack of basic education, the ERDI Testifying in Court program was developed to
help any public safety diver be better prepared for a court room experience.
This program helps a diver understand what may happen, how to dress when
testifying, and even how to speak to the attorneys or a jury. A dive team must
remember that this course is a fantastic preparatory tool, but then the divers
must take a further step. The information learned in the Testifying in Court
program must be practiced. Divers must work with leadership to cover the types
of knowledge needed for a court room scenario, and then run through simulated
practice scenarios to ensure diver comfort and ability when facing a real
attorney.
Now go back to the
court room in which you, the 19 year old volunteer was testifying. Imagine you
are well-dressed and prepared with organized notes covering your actions and
activities during your recovery operation. With each question, you are able to
provide a confident and honest response that explains why and how you performed
specific tasks. When you leave the court room that day, you know you were able
to represent your team and your actions in the best manner possible. This
secondary scenario is also one that would leave any diver more confident in
relation to testifying during future court room scenarios.
A dive team of any
sort must always be prepared to defend its actions. Data must be maintained as
well as any information regarding activities, evidence collection, and scene
operations. Prior to a court case, this information must be pulled and reviewed.
Every step must be taken to ensure that any diver being asked to appear before
court is confident, prepared, and supported in every possible fashion. To begin
this process, the ERDI Testifying in Court program is an awareness-level course
that can be used to better educate divers and prepare them for any court room
experience that they may have never entertained before.
Thomas
Powell
Instructor Trainer – Air Hogs Scuba
www.airhogsscuba.com
Instructor Trainer – Air Hogs Scuba
www.airhogsscuba.com
This
entry was posted in ERDI News
The Dirtiest Job
The
Dirtiest Job
Posted
on: April 23, 2014
by Don Heres:
The Water Looks OK. Are You Willing To Stake Your Life On It?
Today’s op however, is
the type of call every responder dreads. Seven days ago, the five year old son
of a prominent citizen disappeared while riding his bike around the
neighborhood. Until today, there had been no clues as to his whereabouts. Early
this morning, a golfer found a small shoe on the bank of the water hazard on
the number 6 hole at the exclusive Bushwood Country Club. The shoe was similar
to the type the missing boy was wearing on the day he disappeared.
Driving through the
entrance of the finely manicured front gate, you are taken aback by the scenic
beauty of this place. Today it is definitely above your pay grade, but thirty
years ago it was rolling farmland where you hunted and rode your minibike.
These manicured fairways and immaculate greens are a far cry from the corn and
potatoes that were once grown here. Even the old farm ponds have been turned
into scenic works of landscape art. Gently rolling fairways, perfect greens,
blooming azaleas and the new green foliage on the trees complete a visual
spectacle that makes golf courses in the spring something to behold, definitely
a playground for the rich and famous.
Upon pulling into the
parking lot you are met by a Who’s Who of local dignitaries, each with a look
on their face that ranges from concern to angry impatience. The county manager,
the sheriff, the fire chief, the mayor and several council members are there to
brief, complain, and question your plan. Terrified family members gather around
each other and watch in disbelief as you drive by. The local news channel’s van
is parked in the main lot. It has its satellite dish aimed skyward and Danica
Pomeroy, that cute reporter, is primping in its side mirror getting ready for a
live feed as you drive by. As if the pressure being exerted by county officials
was not enough, you cannot help but notice the 30 or so golfers all standing by
the clubhouse looking impatiently at their watches as their appointed tee times
have come and gone. You somehow did not expect this kind of pressure as you
departed the station. To add to the surreal nature of being at Bushwood, you
are practically assaulted by the course marshal and greens keeper when you tell
them you will have to drive the equipment truck to the dive location. You are
again accosted with the “hurry up, but don’t damage the course” attitude.
Upon arrival at the
dive location you are pressed to make decisions quickly under the penetrating
gaze of the county manager and the other officials who have followed you there
in a parade of golf carts. They all know the missing child’s family, and each
has surely received phone calls reminding them of that fact. You quickly decide
that this is a simple search dive, probably more for show than anything else.
Hopefully, you can get in and out quickly, without finding anything. It makes
no sense that that the missing child would be in this location. It is well away
from roads and several miles from his house. By donning wetsuits and simple
open-circuit SCUBA gear, you can get divers into the water quickly and appease
the impatient onlookers. These old ponds are usually 10-12 feet deep with
sediment bottoms, so it will be a quick, easy search, even though recent spring
rains have you a little concerned about visibility. Using two experienced
divers and two tenders to assist, they quickly don their equipment and enter
the water.
Within minutes, a
surface marker appears in the middle of the pond. A muddy cloud also appears at
the surface. Knowing this is not good, you ask law enforcement officers to
clear the area and to secure the perimeter. EMS is called forward and tarps are
brought out to mask what will probably unfold shortly.
Underwater, your
divers have discovered the decomposing body of a young male, wrapped with heavy
chains around him and his bicycle, resting on the bottom. Excited and fueled by
a combination of semi-panic, adrenaline and the urgency to hurry that often
follows the discovery of something ghastly, the divers drop to their knees and
begin to try and dislodge the combined mass from the mud. Without
communications gear, and feeling hard-pressed to recover the body quickly, the
divers decide to remain submerged and press on. By using a small lift bag, they
reason, they can lift the entire mass as a single package, thus maintaining the
integrity of the grisly evidence. Getting the lift bag straps under the
collection of metal and human remains requires digging a trench through the
sediment with their hands. Visibility drops as the sediment cloud envelops the
two divers. With no real current in the pond, the cloud seems to linger like a
morning fog before eventually falling back to the bottom.
Divers, dressed in ordinary SCUBA equipment
bring a body to the shoreline. Photo courtesy of documentingreality.com
The yellow lift bag
breaks the surface along with the divers accompanying it. The body is moved
towards shore, and EMS and law enforcement take custody and begin their
processing procedure. Realizing the two divers have been exposed to the
biological hazards of a decomposing body, you expedite their exit from the
water and begin washing them with fresh water from a nearby yard hydrant.
Tenders mix a 5% solution of sodium hypochlorite and water and begin scrubbing
all of the outer surfaces of their dive equipment in an attempt to kill any biological
residue. The divers use soap on their skin and hair after removing their
wetsuits. With the pressure off, another dive team, dressed in drysuits,
full-faced masks and communications gear enter the pond to continue searching
for evidence.
As your team prepares
to depart, you are offered congratulations and compliments by the County
officials who have been watching the operation. They felt your professionalism
and rapid deployment helped bring a delicate situation to an end. After
cleaning the equipment that was used, your team members disperse with many,
like yourself, heading towards home and dinner. While relaxing, the events of
the day run through your mind. Although rushed you feel you were able to lead a
successful operation and bring closure to a grieving family.
As you start to walk
up the stairs toward your bedroom, the phone rings. On the other end you hear
crying, and the wife of one of your first-in divers tells you that her husband
is in the Emergency Room after collapsing and going into convulsions right
after dinner. As you drive towards the hospital, the questions start rolling
through your head. What happened? Was it related to today’s dive operation?
What did I miss?
As a training
exercise, stop here and take out a piece of paper. Evaluate the preceding
scenario listing all of the errors made during the operation, but most
importantly list the root cause of each mistake. Mistakes in operational
protocols are usually relatively easy to pick out for experienced dive team
members; however, determining the root cause of errors sometimes takes a more
detailed evaluation. It is imperative that anyone operating in “contaminated
water” be able to see beyond the obvious. By not only evaluating what was done
wrong, but also why it was done wrong, you as a team leader have the ability to
be “pro-active” rather than simply taking “reactive” corrective actions.
First and foremost,
this is a “contaminated water” dive. “Contaminated water” is simply what the
term “Bad stuff” or “MEBS” (Methyl Ethyl Bad Stuff) was to HAZMAT teams before
the implementation of CFR 1910.120 (HAZWOPER) in 1986. Like the term or not…
this is a HAZMAT dive. It is no different than when a member of a Hazardous
Materials Response Team dons a fully encapsulated Level A chemical suit to
enter a hostile environment. It is time that divers recognize truly just what
“contaminated water” really is, and the implications it may have on PSD’s.
Simply camouflaging the term “HAZMAT” with catchy buzz words does not degrade
or lessen the dangers of chemicals that may be present. Some of the potential
HAZMAT problems are obvious, other are not.
While the team’s lack
of practical training is obvious and plays a major role, let’s by-pass this for
a moment and look at what is perhaps the biggest factor that contributed to the
eventual negative outcome… pressure. From the outset, the dive team leader
(DTL) was being pushed and pressured to hurry. The prominence of the missing
child, the number of high ranking officials on-scene, the media, the presence
of distraught family members, even the impatient golfers all contribute to the
pressure the DTL was feeling to expedite the operation. This pressure also
trickled down to the initial dive team as even they felt the need to hurry.
This external pressure can, and did, force decisions without proper evaluation
or size-up.
The point here is that
you cannot be rushed… period. To the untrained observer, or “operationally
ignorant”, it may appear that things are moving slowly for no reason. This lack
of knowledge by observers is often expressed in the form of anger or
impatience. It is not uncommon to hear things such as, “What are you waiting
for?” or “Hurry up and just jump in the water, what’s so difficult about that?”
It is up to the DTL to evaluate the scene and insure the safety of all
personnel, not appease the crowd. Establish an operational dive plan and stick
to your SOG’s. Under no circumstances should the priorities of others be
allowed to compromise safety.
Another root cause of
the negative outcome could very easily be contributed to complacency. In this
case, the tranquil and scenic surroundings did not look like a crime scene. It
apparently did not fit into the crime scene image visualized by the DTL. In
this case his preconceived ideas immediately led him to believe this was
probably a false alarm and that they would find nothing during their search.
Complacency is a deadly trap and must be avoided. As any CSI will tell you,
there is no such thing as a typical crime scene. Any dive, especially where the
primary objective is looking for a body, must be treated as if a body will be
found. Additionally, ponds, lakes and streams are likely to have a variety of
wildlife decomposing on the bottom. Even a diver, changing the zinc anodes on
the fishing trawler at the dock behind the local coastal seafood market will
encounter fish carcasses rotting on the bottom. All of these biologicals pose a
potential health threat that cannot be ignored.
Next let’s consider
the team’s apparent lack of Standard Operating Guidelines. Guidance documents
are critical to insure safety. These documents are developed, reviewed, and
modified to address how a team will operate during a variety of situations.
During early planning and strategy meetings, dive team members have the
opportunity to evaluate the type of diving they are trained, equipped, and
willing to do. Once these boundaries are established, procedural guidelines are
put into place to provide a step-by-step roadmap that leads to a safe
conclusion. They should be flexible enough to adapt to any situation, but rigid
enough to insure that safety is neither by-passed nor compromised.
“Contaminated water” diving is nothing new. The U.S. Navy, the EPA diving program,
and PSD teams across the country have already established SOG’s that embrace
entering contaminated water. Books, such as ERDI’s Contaminated Water Diving
Operations by Michael Glenn, research and information published
by Viking and DUI, have introduced divers to the dangers of “dirty water”. In
the scenario above, it is apparent that SOG’s have neither been developed nor
followed. The decision to use open-circuit SCUBA appeared almost to be
off-the-cuff, because it was simple and fast. Diver safety and evidence
recovery were compromised. If contaminated water SOG’s had been in place, no
diver would have entered the water without appropriate protection from
biological hazards… at a minimum.
In your opinion, was a
comprehensive size-up and scene evaluation conducted? It is imperative that a
complete and thorough evaluation of the dive location be conducted before any
dive operations begin. A dive operations plan will pivot around this
evaluation. The initial size-up conducted by the DTL was better suited for Golf
Digest than a dive operation. Even the DTL’s own memories of the
location provided valuable clues as to the potential dangers associated with
the location, but were quickly discarded. He remembered the location as
farmland where potatoes and corn grew. Both of these crops relied heavily on
DDT-based pesticides to control insects. Even though DDT was banned in the
1970’s, it is a very persistent chemical that leeches into soil and sediment.
Years of use would cause the pesticides to run into farm ponds and settle into
the sediment at the bottom. These farm ponds would later become water hazards
at Bushwood. As if ancient pesticides were not bad enough, golf courses do not
just magically become landscape marvels. They require amazing amounts of
fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, and other chemicals being applied year
round.
Of the 30 most commonly used turf pesticides, 19 can cause cancer, 13
are linked to birth defects, 21 can affect reproduction and 15 are nervous
system toxicants. Studies are even being conducted to determine the health
effects of these chemicals on golfers. Warnings have been issued for golfers to
wear long pants and long socks when playing to prevent contact with these
chemicals. The most popular and widely used lawn chemical, 2,4-D, which kills
broad leaf weeds like dandelions, is an endocrine disruptor with predicted
human health hazards ranging from changes in estrogen and testosterone levels
to thyroid problems, prostate cancer, and reproductive abnormalities. 2,4-D has
also been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. With the “recent spring rains”
(i.e. the “first flush”), these chemicals wash into the same water hazards and
also accumulate in the sediment, the same sediment the first dive team was
aggressively working in. The same sediment that enveloped the divers in a dirty
cloud while on the bottom. The same divers who entered the water wearing, what amounts
to, recreational SCUBA equipment and worked feverishly in the cloud of hanging
sediment. While biological hazards were indeed a problem, it appears that
hazardous chemical problems were never even considered. Nothing can pose a
threat to divers more than an inadequate scene size-up. Failure to carefully
evaluate the scene leads to missed clues. Sometimes these clues are obvious,
but a lack of training and knowledge can make them invisible. Only by training
DTL’s, as well as team members, to properly conduct a size-up that extends
beyond dive parameters, can we minimize the likelihood of a diver suffering a
chemical related injury.
Most of you have
probably already concluded that this particular team was inadequately trained
to be conducting the operations in which they were engaging. Not only is
inadequate training a serious root problem, it appears that a lack of knowledge
about the type of training necessary may also be contributory. Diving,
especially PSD diving is not diver friendly. Forget the beautiful, crystal
clear open waters of the Bahamas. In public safety diving, visibility and
mobility would be considered a luxury, as farm ponds and hog lagoons seldom
offer either. PSD diving is always in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Why else would you be there? Simply acquiring diving equipment and recruiting
experienced open water divers does not make for a successful dive team. In
fact, it probably does just the opposite. Most open water divers complain when
visibility drops to 10-15 feet. Operating in zero visibility creates a whole
new set of problems for inexperienced “toilet water” divers. Fear and panic are
the most common. Many problems will render a team operationally ineffective.
Any team that begins operations without mastering the multitude of training
required to operate in an overtly hostile environment is asking for problems
such as the one described.
Today’s firefighters are being required to obtain
Firefighter I & II Certification through standardized agencies such as
International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC). This requires
firefighters to master a variety of skill and knowledge challenges before they
begin responding to actual emergencies. Additionally, they must attain HAZMAT
Operations Level Certification to be prepared for the fact that they will
inevitably encounter dangerous materials. The above scenario presents the case
for establishing a mandatory certification program that guides public sector
dive teams. Technical dive training that insures the proper use of drysuits,
full face masks, and surface supplied air are obvious. Contaminated water
training should also be mandatory, just as HAZMAT is for firefighters. Again,
whether you like the term or not, contaminated water is HAZMAT. Unlike diving
in the open ocean, there are very few inland water bodies that do not hold the
potential of serious contamination. Any dive, no matter what the objective,
should be treated as if there are contaminants in the water. Home and farm
chemicals wind up in streams, lakes and ponds. Rivers, such as the Hudson in
NY, may be contaminated with PCB’s or a variety of TIC’s (Toxic Industrial
Chemicals).
1952 – The heavily polluted Cuyahoga River
burns doing over one million dollars in damage to boats and riverfront buildings.
Photo courtesy of NOAA.
The Cuyahoga River in
Ohio is so polluted that in 1969 it actually caught fire… for the 13th time.
Transportation accidents can introduce innumerable chemicals into the water.
Operating in these contaminated waters not only poses a risk to the diver, but
also to tenders and support staff that may assist divers as they exit the
water, which means team training needs to extend beyond just protecting the
divers. Training that prepares DTL’s to better assess the hazards of a dive
location are needed. Dive team members have to be trained in such a way that
they can recognize hazardous water environments and insure their own safety.
OSHA’s CFR 1910.120, the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
Standard applies to “employees” who operate in chemical environments or respond
to situations where hazardous chemicals may be present. The EPA’s 40 CFR 311
mirrors the same mandatory requirements as put forth in OSHA’s HAZWOPER.
Responders as a whole often shy away (better stated as RUN away) from HAZMAT
training as misconceptions usually lead responders to believe it will be a
detailed study of chemistry, physics, and math. It is not. While HAZMAT is
obviously rooted in the advanced sciences, it is more of an acquisition of
knowledge and the application of common sense. We live in a petro-chemical
society, chemicals are everywhere. Simply put… chemicals are not going away, so
we as divers need to accept this and “improvise, adapt, and overcome” to move
forward, continue doing our jobs, and return home safely every night
The ERDI course, Contaminated
Water Diving Operations, is an excellent first step towards recognizing the
dangers associated with diving in “dirty water” and gaining a necessary
competence in the subject matter. The objective of the program is to help
divers establish recognition and planning methods for contaminated water
diving.
Don Heres was
certified in 1977 and after graduation from NCSU he worked for 6 years doing
commercial diving and ship husbandry along the east coast. He has spent 30
years as a Firefighter, Officer, and Fire Service Instructor, retiring from
active response as an Assistant Chief. He served as the Lead HAZMAT Instructor
for the NC Office of the State Fire Marshal where he developed the original
Hazardous Materials Responder Certification and HAZMAT Instructor Qualification
programs for North Carolina and served on the Governor’s Committee that
developed the NC’s HAZMAT Regional Response Teams. He also served as the Hazardous
Materials Coordinator for Wake County Emergency Management where he was
responsible for HAZMAT planning and SARA Title III Programs. Today he continues
to teach Firefighters and owns Hazard-Risk Management Associates in
Clayton, NC a company that specializes in OSHA Safety and training hazardous
materials responders in both the public and private sectors. He continues to be
an avid diver.
This
entry was posted in ERDI News.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Surface
Supplied Air Event with US Border Patrol and Phoenix Police
Posted
on: March 26, 2014 by Shawn Harrison
In February I had the
pleasure of being invited to sunny Arizona in order to attend an event that the
US Border Patrol (USBP) and Phoenix Police Department (PPD) where holding. Both
teams were conducting a joint training event on Surface Supplied Air (SSA). Mike
Buck, a member of the US Border Patrol’s BORSTAR team, was informing me that
all members of the Tucson BORSTAR’s Subsurface Maritime Operations Group in
this class received training on SSA. He further stated that “this training
conditions our team for multiple scenarios that we may encounter, and we need
to be prepared to respond.” They also realize that SSA requires specialized
training. Moreover, the deployment of the system into various environments
would provide additional safety factors.
As part of the
training they had scenarios set up in which they would deploy from shore in
boats and even small Zodiacs (as you can see from the picture below). One of
the scenarios involved a vehicle that had been submerged into the water. After
searching and locating the vehicle, they realized it was full of drugs bundled
in burlap bags (the bags where stuffed for simulation of course). They would
then deploy a diver to extract the material from the car. Come to find out,
this is a real situation they might face.
During the scenario,
the SSA diver would deploy from the boat as the tender would guide the diver to
the suspected search area. A search pattern was used to slowly work the diver
back towards the objective. The diver is attached to an umbilical line which
contains the air hose, as well as a safety line and communication line. The
communication line is hard-wired into the system making it more reliable than
wireless systems. The diver has an emergency bailout bottle mounted on his
back; also the umbilical line can act as the search pattern line.
The majority of public
safety dive teams train using Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
(SCUBA) equipment, and both the US Border Patrol and Phoenix Dive Team are
trained in both SCUBA and SSA. This was a great opportunity to see the two
teams working together and sharing information with each other.
I would like to thank
George Herr, David Jordon and the Phoenix Police Department’s dive team, along
with Mike Buck and all the US Border Patrol BORSTAR dive team members for
allowing me the opportunity to take part in this event.
Contact SDI TDI and ERDI
Tel: 888.778.9073 |
207.729.4201
Email: Worldhq@tdisdi.com
Web: www.tdisdi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicSafetyDiving
Email: Worldhq@tdisdi.com
Web: www.tdisdi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicSafetyDiving
This
entry was posted in ERDI News.
Helitrox
for PS Diving – Clear Head, Clear Mind in Deep Recoveries?
Posted
on: March 26, 2014 by Thomas Powell
In the public safety
world, gas fills can become complicated. Fire stations must follow OSHA
regulations, and fill station operators require training that is not required
in standard dive shop environments. If a person were to speak to most current
dive team leaders in the United States, they would insist that mixed gasses of
any sort, and even basic nitrox, are not allowed in public safety diving
programs. Extensive research will show that, in the majority of cases, there
are no standing rules preventing the use of nitrox or mixed gas. The reality is
that not every public safety dive team has easy access to a fill station. The
difficulty acquiring basic air scares team leaders and oversight bodies away
from the complications of obtaining gasses that may be even harder, and more
expensive, to acquire.
Helitrox is a
breathing gas made up of nitrogen, helium, and oxygen. The proper mixtures of
these gasses can allow a diver to function and operate at depths beyond the
range of standard air fills. In the modern world helitrox is often used by
technical divers or commercial divers undergoing complex and often deeper dive
activities. To perform technical dives using helitrox, a diver must understand
the physiology associated with how the gas can affect the human body underwater,
and how to plan for a dive that may involve soft or hard ceilings. To date,
advanced mixed gasses have rarely been used in public safety dive training
programs or operations. Despite this fact, roughly one year ago, the entire
world saw a group of commercial divers, diving helitrox, recover a man who had
been submerged in a trapped shipwreck for three days. The gas being used
allowed divers to remain underwater and perform an unplanned recovery.
The United States is
bordered by two major oceans and consists of a vast number of deep waterways
within her interior. When looking at these bodies of water, operational dive
teams must recognize that one day they may be called to perform a recovery, or
even a rescue, at depth. Imagine that a diver has been trapped at depth while
diving helitrox. If a rescue is possible, the team performing the operation
must understand the physiology associated with the gas being inspired by the
victim. This knowledge will allow the dive team involved to best plan a rescue
and return to the surface that does not exacerbate already existing problems.
Similarly, certain
bodies of water in the United States exist at altitude. This factor makes even
recovery operations go off standard “table diving” scenarios. Essentially, a one
hundred foot (deep) recovery dive may be converted to a deeper theoretical
depth based on altitude. This factor suggests that divers at altitude may be
safer if they have a good knowledge base and understanding of how to use mixed
gasses. One of the most interesting things to do with a diver is to let them do
comparison dives between helitrox and air. Essentially, let the diver do a dive
on helitrox and then later do a dive on air. Then have the diver determine
which dive is more memorable. The helitrox dive will be better remembered. This
scenario shows that helitrox allows a diver to remain more “clear-headed.”
In the world of public
safety diving, being clear-headed and cognizant of all operational activities
could save a life. These divers already perform activities in near-zero
visibility using a sense of touch. If a problem arises, a clear-headed diver
may be more prepared to correct issues or solve problems. Similarly, a
clear-headed diver may better remember dive-related details essential to a courtroom
scenario.
There is no reason for
a dive team to avoid gaining improved levels of knowledge. In many cases,
leadership personnel will establish a goal for public safety dive teams. This
goal may be the completion of a course such as ERD II. Once that goal is
achieved, leadership often turns to team status maintenance. New divers get
trained, and current divers do in-service training. This mindset often leads to
a lack of focus and the establishment of a normal routine. Education requires a
break from this routine and a focus on continued improvement. Even if a dive
team does not dive mixed gasses on a regular basis, an understanding of the
related dive theory will help dive team members better acknowledge how gas can
affect the human body.
Mixed gas diving
requires strong education and a focus on learning how to be safe at deeper
depths. Despite this, helitrox can allow emergency response divers to perform
activities for longer periods, with clearer minds, at deeper depths. A dive
team must determine if mixed gas diving could play a role within its territory,
and then consider if the team wishes to be available for extended range calls
for help in an area exceeding local territory boundaries. At altitude, helitrox
diving may be essential to remain safe. Closer to sea level, helitrox diving
may be an activity that is beyond the skills set desired by a team. Team
leaders must work to make the best decisions possible in regard to team
capabilities and knowledge bases.
In North Carolina, the
staff at Air Hogs Scuba is working with various dive teams to begin developing
a better understanding (for team members) of how gas affects the human body.
Three teams are currently working through the TDI Nitrox program as a starting
point. The objective is to learn the math, and better understand how to draw
personal conclusions regarding how to dive differing gas mixtures. This course
is the entry-point for dive teams considering mixed-gas response capabilities.
No dive team should turn down educational opportunities provided within
reasonable parameters, and helitrox has its place in public safety diving. The
reality is that teams have to make the move to become more educated and step
outside normal training parameters. Actions of this type will give dive teams
greater capabilities, and an improved potential for performing operational
activities in expanded environments.
-Thomas PowellOwner/Instructor Trainer – Air Hogs Scuba
This entry was posted in ERDI News.
For additional information please contact omnidive@gmail.com or www.omnidivers.com/erdi.html
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