U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team Provides:
-On Site Standby Water Rescue Services for special events or activities on or near the water
-Water Safety Education and Awareness
-Water Rescue / Recovery Consulting Services
-Public Safety Dive Team Consulting
-Underwater Body Recovery
-Deep Water Operations (up to 350 feet)
-Underwater Evidence Recovery
-Underwater Crime Scene Investigation
-SCUBA Fatality Investigation
-SAR Diving
-Flood Rescue
-Ice Rescue
DIVE RESCUE / RECOVERY
Underwater recovery can be physically, spiritually, and financially demanding on members, but this service is the crux of the why the U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team exists: To provide peace and closure to those who have lost a loved one by bringing that person home.
Thousands of people die each year in the United States by unintentional drowning. While the team strives to save lives through its water safety education program, the members also work closely with local agencies and families to recover the victims of these tragedies.
Our PSD Team Members are trained in the technical aspects of recovery diving which allows them to work in extreme conditions including moving water, cold water, deep water, and “black water” in which there may be limited- or no visibility. Their technical training and sophisticated equipment allows U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team divers to recognize and avoid or respond accordingly to dangers such as entanglement with underwater obstacles or working in contaminated waters.
Our goal as Public Safety Divers is to balance technical expertise and extreme safety underwater with kindness and compassion while working with families on land.
SWIFTWATER RESCUE
Swiftwater rescue can be one of the most dramatic, and most dangerous, aspects of a water rescue / recovery team.
The U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team members are certified in swiftwater rescue and have the high level of preparedness and team work required to quickly pull victims out of moving water.
Working from within the water, from the shore and sometimes using a boat, the team uses technical expertise to affect swiftwater rescue, including using ropes, swimmers, and other equipment to remove victims from powerful waters.
Team and victim safety are paramount in all rescues and one of the foundations of swiftwater rescue is the ability to read that water so rescuers can identify and avoid hazards.
While it is tempting when a friend or loved one is in trouble in the water to jump in and attempt to help them, water rescue – especially in powerful rapid water -- should never be tried by anyone who doesn’t have the proper training, certification and equipment to enter dangerous waters. Please see our water safety page for some basic guidelines on water rescues, including the rule to never enter the water unless trained to do so.
The U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team is available for rapid response to emergencies and for stand-by services at sporting and other events.
U.S. Water Rescue LLC:
-Equipment for all your Tech Diving, Public Safety Diving, and Water Rescue needs
-Service Repair Facility for Poseidon, Mares, Hollis, OTS, and Whites Drysuits
-Public Safety Dive Instruction (PADI, ERDI, or USWR)
-Public Safety Dive Team Consulting
-Underwater Recovery & Crime Scene Investigation
-Technical Dive Training (TDI)
PUBLIC SAFETY DIVE TRAINING AND CONSULTING
A Public Safety Diving certification requires dozens of hours of technical training in addition to a financial investment in equipment. The nonprofit U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team and its corporate partner, U.S. Water Rescue LLC, are available to provide training and consulting to individuals and agencies interested in Public Safety Diving.
Our services include helping clients understand the ins and outs of developing Public Safety Dive Teams, including writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and implementing the services provided by those teams. We work with existing teams that are interested in expanding by providing additional training and guidance on equipment investments. The U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team is available to join existing teams that need additional resources on long-term and highly technical rescue/recovery.
The team is also certified in evidence recovery and can provide this service and/or train other drivers to secure underwater items with the least disruption to forensic evidence.
We realize that it can difficult to understand how and why Public Safety Dive Teams operate. Families working with teams may want additional information about the operations being done to bring home their loved ones. In these cases, the U.S. Water Rescue Dive Team is just a phone call away and members are happy to take the time to explain rescue/recovery efforts and offer suggestions about the options available.
US Water Rescue LLC also sells and services dive equipment, with a commitment to top-notch customer service. Our volunteer members and professional instructors use the equipment they sell, so they thoroughly understand the gear and can help guide customers to the right selections for their needs. Our sales belief is that if the customer is not happy, we are not successful. Our customers can always expect to work with Public Safety Divers who are knowledgeable and will treat them with respect.
Our instructors are certified to teach courses offered by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors); ERDI (Emergency Response Diving International) and TDI (Technical Diving International). We specialize in private classes for all levels of dive instruction and are devoted to one-on-one attention for our clients. Courses are typically offered at our location in Billings, Montana, however we are willing to travel for classes.
US Water Rescue LLC provides service/repair for Poseidon, Guardian FFM, Mares, Hollis, OTS, and Whites drysuits.
For more information about these services, please visit our corporate Web site at www.uswaterescue.com. The site includes information about new equipment sales, equipment service and repair, and a growing classified advertisement section to buy and sell used gear.
-Public Safety Diver (ERDI or PADI)
A common misconception with non-divers, divers, and even dive instructors, is that a “Certified Recreational Diver” (including recreational rescue divers and SAR divers) are qualified to perform Public Safety Diving Services. Sadly this is an extremely dangerous misconception, and far from the truth. Far too often that belief leads to serious injury or death of divers who have taken on work they are not certified nor equipped to complete. A Police Dept. would not hire a college graduate, show him how to shoot a pistol and make him a Police Officer. Would a Fire Dept hire a recent graduate, show him how to use a fire extinguisher and make him a Fireman? Of course not, that’s silly. So why does it happen in Public Safety Diving? Lack of public education!
Recreational training teaches a new diver the very very BASICS of diving (enough to get by). Most of the time it is taught in ideal conditions (warm water, clear water, free from any dangers). It is taught with the idea that the diver will be diving in similar ideal conditions with no stress and no dangers.
Public Safety Divers find themselves diving in cold, dark, polluted, moving, black, and dangerous waters. Dangers such as barbed wire, trees, glass, sharp jagged pieces of metal, entanglement hazards (just to name a few) all pose dangers to Public Safety Divers. What would a diver do if he/she could not see, all of a sudden became entangled, was bleeding from a cut, and was running low on air? Typically, that diver will PANIC which adds to the distress and forces the diver to lose control which in the underwater environment usually ends in tragedy.
The PSD course not only teaches how to conduct safe EFFECTIVE black-water searches, but also how to avoid common problems such as those stated above, and how to handle them if they were to occur. Sign up for a PSD course today!
-Public Safety Dive Tender
Tenders are the most important person on a PSD Team! These important members provide the eyes and ears of the diver and the above water communication system that makes underwater work safe and effective.
The PSD Tender course is taught in conjunction with the PSD Diver Course. Non-divers as well as divers are encouraged to become certified Public Safety Dive Tenders.
-Dry Suit Diver
Dry suit divers don’t have to give up diving just because the seasons change and the water gets cold!
Stop being cold, and start being warm and comfortable! No longer any reason to stop diving, start diving all year round! A majority of divers (unless tropical) once they go dry they never go back. A must for cold water divers, deep divers, and Public Safety Divers.
-Full Face Mask
The full face mask was designed for commercial, military and PSD applications. Today’s FFMs are designed for function and comfort and, with proper training, all divers can enjoy their benefits. FFM is beneficial for Public Safety Divers because it provides added protection from cold and also contaminated water. Other benefits are that they can be fitted with communications systems and relieve jaw fatigue.
-Deep Diver
With additional training, a recreational diver can extend depth limits up to 130. That means being able to visit more of the underwater world. This is a great introduction to the deep diving skills that more technical divers use.
Who is ERDi?
ERDI is the Public Safety diving (PSD) agency that trains Police, Fire and other public safety organizations in Search and Rescue techniques in just about every submerged environment known. ERDI trains departments on how to make and maintain their own PSD teams along with being the only Public Safety diving training agency that has their own insurance that endorses its own standards. All ERDI programs are OSHA and NFPA compliant. In fact, some of the largest successful and renown departments use ERDI Programs to conduct their training.
Helping Public Safety Professionals, into ----and out, of the water!
Dive Specialty Training
-Nitrox/Trimix Fills
-TDI Nitrox Diver
-TDI Advanced Nitrox Diver
-TDI Intro to Tech
-TDI Decompression Procedures
-TDI Extended Range
-TDI Trimix Diver
-TDI Gas Blending
-Dry Suit Diver
