Dive
Team
Sgt
Harry Smith
503-255-3600
MCSO
Dive Team Assists PBB To Recover Body 02/29/08
The
MCSO Dive Team is comprised of full-time sworn members of the Multnomah
County Sheriff's Office. The Dive Team members must complete and
maintain a number of certifications including:
-
Basic Scuba (Open Water),
- Advanced
Scuba,
- Rescue
Diver
- CPROX
(diving medical maladies, CPR, and Oxygen administration),
-
Dive Rescue 1 (from Dive Rescue International)
- Underwater
Crime Scene Technician
Members
are encouraged to expand their diving repertoire with higher certifications
such as:
- Decompression
diving,
- NITROX,
and
- Master
Diver.
The MCSO Dive Team primarily operates in the Columbia and Willamette
Rivers. However, they also respond to the Multnomah Channel, Sandy
River, Blue Lake, Johnson Creek, innumerable unnamed ponds and
waterways in surrounding jurisdictions. Typically, the visibility
on most dives is less than 2 feet, and is often zero visibility.
The dives within the rivers mandate special training and techniques
to effectively and safely dive in current and low visibility.
The Dive Team responds to an average of 20 calls per calendar
year. The Dive Team members are on call 24 hours a day. The Dive
Team responds to a variety of calls: drownings, suicides, vehicle
crashes, dumped vehicles, evidence searches, homicides, missing
persons searches, Homeland Security missions, special event security
and aircraft crashes.
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