Another Public Safety Dive Team Call Out

[@sophiejessome6522]

I recently became a commercial scuba diver and I love watching your videos! So much things to learn from your experience and knowledge 🙂

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Thank you Sohpie Jessome, glad you liked our videos and found them helpful.

[@SeattleRingHunter]

Nice recovery work. Thanks for sharing. Great attitude as always and completely agree solo dive more than suffice for this task. Maybe you were quite busy at the time but it wold be cool to see how the riding lawnmower behaved when pulled out of the water. Hopefully rolled out easily but never the less no match for a wrecker. 🤙

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Hello Jeff, it was a struggle getting the Lawnmower back on land. In short the wrecker service did quite a bit of damage to it as they winched it up through the woods. The biggest issue they had, was the trees and bushes that would cause snags on the lawnmower. They had to re-position the cable several times to get it free. Of course it was missing a wheel from the initial impact with the water, so there is not much chance of it operating in a normal manor.

[@SeattleRingHunter]

LakeHickoryScuba from the looks of the shore line and size of the mower your response is what I expected. Equipment can be replaced hopefully the operator recovered from this unfortunate incident.

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

I unfortunately can not comment on the operators medical condition. However the link we provided in the video description, from the local news paper, is pretty accurate.

[@jjohn8989]

Always enjoy watching you work. Two things, 1) looks like the mower was no where near an area to be mowing.... How far did the owner travel through treeline befor hitting water? 2) (and I know nothing about video editing) a voice over explaining what your thinking and looking for while under water would be helpful. Stay safe!

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Hello J John, the best that I can recall, the operator of the mower traveled at least 200 feet down an embankment before becoming submerged in the water. We will be uploading another video later today of a call out for a stolen vehicle in the lake. I plan on commentating over it.

[@markhammer6971]

Great Videos. I am really enjoying all I have seen from you and may have to come up and see you all sometime when I am up that way. I am a PADI MSDT and was wondering if you all are just PSD qualified or if your divers are also UCI certified? I am a Master UCI diver and think this would be useful for your team.

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Hello Mark. Our team members are all PSD certified, and we currently have 2 of us that are UCI's as well. I currently teach both the PSD and UCI program through several different training agencies (SSI, PADI, PDIC, SEI, CMAS). We do a lot of contract work for local Public Safety Departments, and are called out for multiple evidence recoveries several times each year. This year alone we have recovered 3 vehicles, and to firearms. Needless to say our lake is full of mysteries. Our 2 UCI's (one being myself) are the two that do the majority of the testifying in court, when needed. I am also a former Deputy Sheriff here in our county, our other UCI is a Detective for the same Sheriff's Office. We also have a 1st Sgt with the Highway Patrol that dives with us as well. The rest are all Firemen by trade. As far as leadership, we are all Dive Professionals in the Scuba Industry, ranging from Divemasters all the way up to Instructor Trainers. Public Safety Diving is more than just a hobby for us, its a way of life. As I am typing this, we are coordinating with another Police Department here in our area, to search for a remove a stolen pick up truck. Our next video that we will upload sometime today, will be the investigation part of the scene. So stay tuned for that.

[@stevedavidson1250]

Great video as always! On an off topic, as a mares dealer what do you think the chances are of you getting your hands on a horizon and reviewing it?

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

It will probably be a while before we get our hands on one. I was recently at the Mares headquarters down in Boca Raton, and got to play with one for a short period of time. But it will still be a while before they are released to the dealers here in the states.

[@stevedavidson1250]

@@LakeHickoryScuba have you heard any rumors on the price they will be?

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Not really, other than they will be priced for the recreational market.

[@stevedavidson1250]

@@LakeHickoryScuba that's what I have read also. I did change my geo location and seen where there going from 3800 to 4500 euros across the pond.

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Sounds about right for a recreational model.

[@djjoshua007]

You are lucky, Our Sheriffs office will not let us post ANY pics or video of our diving.

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Hello djjoshua007, we are a private team. We are subcontractors for several Public Safety Departments here in our area. We still do not produce or upload certain videos based off the nature of the scene.

[@DanBowkley]

My only question: how in the...... Actually, a serious question as well: how does one become a public safety diver? I'm a long-haul trucker and pretty well sick of it, been diving since 1990 (nowhere near as often as I'd like, but whatever) and I think either PSD or instructor would be pretty enjoyable for me. Challenging enough, varied enough, and enough to learn to keep me interested.

[@markhammer6971]

PADI has a PSD course. Great Course to take.

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Hello Dan, in regards to becoming a Public Safety Diver, the first step is to take the required courses that are pre-requisites. Then you can take the PSD course. Once certified, finding a team to work for can be difficult. In general, you will have to be apart of a Public Safety Department that host a dive team. In our case, we are a private company that does it for local Public Safety Departments here in our area. All of our divers are not only certified in Public Safety Diving, but also in Underwater Criminal Investigations. We are all Public Servants here in our area, including Police, Fire, and EMS.

[@apitz4umh]

I like work dive with you... I want to try it..

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

It can be challenging at times.

[@artoftheflatlands]

at some point you must have wanted to sit in the seat.. or is it just me?

[@LakeHickoryScuba]

Due to the nature of the call, sitting in the seat of the lawnmower was the last thing on my mind.