Firefighters practice rescue diving in Aquatic Center

Jennifer Pearsall/Pioneer
Lt. Derak Stewart of the Oklahoma City Fire department dives Dec. 8 in the OCCC Aquatic Center. The firemen train at OCCC to gain recertification in diving about every three months.

Brady Curry
News Writing Student

Air bubbles floated to the surface as three firefighters practiced black-water rescue diving in the Aquatic Center swimming pool on Dec. 5.

The trainees worked with their masks covered to prepare them for searching in zero visibility water, said firefighter Cpl. Jeremy Wickersham. All of the divers were equipped with scuba gear.

Three divers trained in the water while Cpl. C.J. Seitz served as rope tender. He held the rope while on the surface of the pool deck.

Sietz said his job was to hold the rope and interpret what the diver needed during the search. The diver may need to be pulled back in an emergency, he said, or may need to be given more rope to search farther out in the water.

The rope tender serves as the trainer, to help guide the trainee through the search. The rope is fastened around the tender’s waist, as well as the waist of the trainee in the water.

If the trainee is going too far away from the targeted area of search, the rope tender tugs on the rope to get the trainee’s attention.

Wickersham was in the water demonstrating how to search with zero visibility. In this process, he said, the trainee had a sponge-like cover over his mask. Blocking vision gives the trainee a chance to learn how a real search mission would be conducted in very murky water, Wickersham said.

Lt. Derak Stewart was assisting Wickersham in the search.

“We have to train every three months, to make sure we know how to do everything,” Seitz said.

Wickersham explained during the training, signals are used to tell the rope tender how to control the rope. These signals consist of tugs on the rope, he said. One tug means OK, two tugs mean change direction, three tugs mean a victim was found, and four tugs mean there is trouble and help is needed.

When there are four tugs on the rope, other divers are sent into the water to assist during the search. Divers have to be aware of things such as analyzing the water for currents and other potential dangers.

“On an actual scene, there are a lot of things going on,” Wickersham said. At a rescue diving scene, the atmosphere is more intense than in training.

“You have got to concentrate on what you’re doing,” Wickersham said. “This is a refresher to remember the drill because there is so much going on.”

He said that during a search, divers swim against the rope. They perform searches that are six feet wide and six feet in length, which include going from one side to another. Then they move out another six feet and search another area.

Divers on the firefighter team are realistic about what they are likely to find if they are successful in their search.

“Most likely it is not going to be a rescue,” Wickersham said. Typically they find bodies.