Alternative uses for tree gear

[pantheraba]

I couldn't find vharrison's thread "On the Water" for some pictures I said I'd post...maybe that thread got left behind in one of the TreeHouse evolutions?

So I'll start this one...I'm part of a county Dive Team (search, rescue and recovery for water and land) and sometimes we make use of gear from other disciplines...treework, rock climbing, etc.

We have started working with helmets when working underwater on searches...the water is usually in a lake or river and not exactly like the Keys for clarity. Within a few kicks the silt is usually so bad you cannot see more than a few inches...3 feet visibility is remarkable. It's never known what you might run into...literally...maybe a treelimb, car, whatever humans and nature toss around.

Here are some pictures of a recent training mission to learn to search around a military tank bridge that Mother Nature destroyed in the 2009 floods here...broke it in half and washed it downstream. A new bridge has been erected (about 10 feet higher) and this downstream bridge will be a strainer if someone jumps off the new bridge and drowns. So we explore it now in case we get called out there someday.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Great pics, Gary! it looks technical. Wish I had some photos of when the city garbage truck got stuck near my shop in a rut, and I used my tree puller to get him back in business. Guess I saved the town that day.

 

[pantheraba]

Ha!! Some people talk trash..that day you pulled trash.

They had to be glad to see you.

 

[woodworkingboy]

How often does your team get together for training? Is that something that exists nationally as part of fire departments?

 

[pantheraba]

We train once per month as a team...we trained yesterday on full face masks which we are switching to.

Most Public Safety Divers are associated/part of a law enforcement or fire department. Some, like us, are volunteer teams and are at the call of fire and police units.

We are tasked under the Georgia (State) Emergency Management Agency (Its function is similar to that of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in preparing for and responding to disasters, and mitigating potential hazards.)

 

[Altissimus]

Nice...

 

[FireFighterZero]

Awesome pics Gary! We need a guy like you on our team, when asked for a knot the questions is usually "square or granny"?
They get me squeezed into the dry suit once in a while for swift water rescue and into the dirty river I go. We train below the water treatment plant because it has a low-head dam, or drowning machine as we call them. I stepped on something sharp and it pierced the suit, sticking my foot. I had that suit off in seconds and my foot drenched in iodine.

Anyone with rope experience could help with rescues in our area, if we had anyone.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[pantheraba]

Glad to oblige...yep, cuts in some of these waters these days is bad juju.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I couldn't find vharrison's thread "On the Water"

https://www.masterblasterhome.com/showthread.php?9481-On-The-Water

 

[Altissimus]

...hurricane Irene, besides everyones fuels and septic contents the Rivers were extremely high in Arsenic ...swim and be poisoned