The Paris Fire Department regional response Dive Team hosted a critical skills dive class this week in Paris.
Alongside the dive team, two divers from Grapevine Fire Department also attended the training.
Just like our regional Hazmat team, the Dive Team is also on call 24-hours to help over nine counties if need be. They may not get regularly called out, however, their call-outs can include dive search and rescue, as well as, evidence recovery.
Eric Patton from Dive International Rescue was on hand for the class helping the divers work through training scenarios throughout the two-day course.
Attendees began the course with 4-hours of classroom work before hitting the local pool where they honed their skills and critical thinking while diving.
Learning how to best deal with stressful situations when called out; the group moved through several different scenarios which included being tangled in a net, having gear taken off such as masks removed, working through an obstacle course underwater, blackout challenges and more.
“It’s important we do this training, because when we are called to respond, we may not always be able to reach the surface quickly if something goes wrong,” Deputy Chief Randy Crawford said.
“If it’s predictable, it’s preventable,” attendees said of the catch line that was used in training.
Adding that learning how to keep calm under stressful situations through scenarios presented in the course enabled each diver to continue to build confidence and familiarity with their gear.
“We teach classes all over the country. And with that we see different skills sets and enhancements in the training of divers continually learning the best practices of public safety diving,” Patton said, “ the group overall has been very receptive to the training over the last two days.”
The divers said the overall outcome of the course is to be more comfortable underwater in all possible scenarios of high-stress situations and they are confident they can respond to a call out whenever and wherever it is coming from over the nine-county span they look after.
