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12-29-2006, 10:42 AM,

I'm a little interested and thought others might be as well. And I'm trying to post on every subject. He He, I'm bored.

grumpie · 01-03-2007, 11:20 PM,

Good Evening, Tell me Mr corn doggy2 are you on a stick.
If you would like to get involved in this, first you have to belong to a SO or a FD. Then you will start at the bottom of the pole and do a open water refresher, so that we can see how good your skills are. If we think that they are OK, then we will continue with a dry suit class, next you will take a ffm class. this will get you in to June. Between June and Oct. you will make about 25 dives and in Oct you will do a advance class with about 12-14 more dives.
A few more dives before the water gets hard and you do a ice diving class, by spring you will [ I HOPE ] be ready for search and salvage class, search and recovery class, this will take the rest of the summer. by the way you will also do a river diving class.
Just think what happens if your skills are not very good.
grumpie...... I'm not bored and this is the truth if you want to get involved.

01-04-2007, 01:59 PM,

Who teaches all of these classes? What agency are they? Would a guy have to pay for them? Or are they "special" classes of your own? I'm interested in the "ffm" class. Do I choose the girls or are they your daughters? Make sure they're hot and not fat. JK Seriously though, why would someone go through all this? What kind of compensation or reward could someone expect? I've done a fair amount of commercial work and enjoy the challenges that work brings. But not if I have to jump through hoops for a year and then not get paid. I'm sure it's exciting and challenging, but it sounds like a lot of time to invest. Again, I'm only slightly interested myself but am asking for others who may be interested. I only hope they have the "skills".

MNLakeDiver · 01-04-2007, 03:22 PM,

Corndogg2 are you counting your self as an f

"oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok..."

grumpie · 01-04-2007, 09:50 PM,

Lets try again,
Most are instructor specialties, they are naui and iantd.
the classes are put on by the dept. The dept. has the instructors for the classes, the instr writes the outline. I'm sure that my daughter is as good a diver as many of you, but then she has only been diving for 23 years. the ffm class stands for full face masks.
I guess when a family member at the end of the shakes your hand and says thank you we now have some closure and the healing begins, your not doing any think for the victim, your helping the family.
all the other thing are a part of the job.
the traing cost nothing for you, the dept. furnishes you with all the equipment. you have to furnish your own soxes and under wear unless you want to wear mine.
If you do not want to jump through the hoops for all most 2 years, then i guess that this is not for you. Ive only been at it since 1960 and i have not regretted it .........

grumpie · 01-04-2007, 10:01 PM,

Think about it, REC diver get to use 50# lift bags. PSD get to use 200# to 500# bags How many have lifted airplanes, Ive done 10 since 1988. How many cars have you lifted, or snowmobiles.
Next time your underwater pick up two small rocks, close your eyes and try too ID them. When is the last time you have done skills? Most PSD train two times a month year around.
grumpie......
PS promise not to become motormouth again for a while, and I'm not picking on antone

SmithDiving · 01-04-2007, 11:37 PM,

I'll try to clarify a little for Grumpie here. I've known him for a long time now and he demands very high quality from his students and himself. I know that he's seen alot of "PSD" divers over the years who (like alot of recreational divers) are "in it for the patch" That is they want to be part of a dive team just to say they're part of a dive team. From my own experience seeing these divers in action in strictly recreational situations, there is often lots of ego and very little commitment involved. We have been fortunate enough to have several Instructors who have worked for various dive teams and each of them has shown a true public service attitude. I think that anyone in law enforcement/fire type careers are mostly motivated by the service rather than the compensation. I would also note however that if you added up the "free" training these people recieve, you would certainly be in the thousands of dollars, not to mention the cool gear they get to use. I'm thankful they are out there.

01-05-2007, 10:07 AM,

That's what I have heard, a lot of ego with these guys although I have never actually witnessed it. Especially with you and Chris. The emotional reward of recovering a body would be enough for me. I've always wanted to be involved in a recovery. Just not interested in egos or politics. Got enough of that in the dive circle. So one would have to be involved with their local FD or how do you get involved with the Sheriff's office? I enjoy helping people in general and combining that with diving would be perfect.

Keep talkin', I'm listening.

MNLakeDiver · 01-05-2007, 12:50 PM,

grumpie didn't mention the year you will spend on the dept. 2 days a week learning the paper work, radio skills, Driving skills, geography,first aid,ect. befor you can think of joining the dive team at all.
Not that the training is not worthwile just dont think you'll be in the water right away.

scott1611 · 01-05-2007, 05:36 PM,

I think it also depends on the area you live in. I contacted our local Sheriff's Office and got some information and then applied to our local team over the summer and was able to interview in early fall, and was allowed on the team.

From the training I've done so far, typically twice a month, I haven't seen the level of training that Grumpie or MNLakeDiver mentioned...but would embrace it if available. Now I can't say if it is our area or that I've been on the team for only 3 1/2 months. I'm very happy to have made it onto the team and am eager to learn whatever is offered to me. Our team is made up of volunteers, and I'm not sure if they send people away for certain training. I know we have a PSD instructor on the team, and he oversees our training days.

I do plan on getting as much training as I can on my own, granted it'll be more recreational at first (such as my ice cert next month and a padi rescue diver cert in the summer). I may look into some outside (psd) training as well, if I have the cash. I'm also starting an EMT-B course in a few weeks...so I can be a better prepared person overall.