{"id":95,"date":"2025-08-01T05:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/?p=95"},"modified":"2025-09-15T05:39:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T05:39:39","slug":"my-weekend-of-public-safety-diver-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/?p=95","title":{"rendered":"My Weekend of Public Safety Diver Training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most people spend their weekend catching up on Netflix or mowing the lawn. Me? I spent mine waist-deep (okay, fully submerged<\/em>) in public safety diver training with the Lees Summit Underwater Rescue and Recovery team \u2014 and honestly, I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past three years, I\u2019ve been a volunteer diver with the team, which means I get the unique privilege of spending my free time suiting up, strapping on tanks, and jumping into lakes, ponds, and sometimes downright questionable bodies of water \u2014 all in the name of helping our community. This weekend was a perfect example of why I love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83c\udfca\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Day 1: Pool Training \u2013 Dry Suits and Full Face Masks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We kicked things off in a nice, controlled environment: the pool. (Because you don\u2019t want your first attempt at a dry suit or full-face mask to be in a murky lake where you can\u2019t see your own fins.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus for the first day was getting everyone dialed in on their dry suit<\/strong> skills and completing full-face mask certifications<\/strong> for the guys who needed it. If you\u2019ve never tried diving in a dry suit, it\u2019s\u2026 an experience. Instead of getting wet like you would in a wetsuit, you stay completely dry \u2014 which is amazing in cold water \u2014 but it means you now have another thing to control underwater: the air inside your suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Watching new divers figure out how to manage their buoyancy in a dry suit is always entertaining. There\u2019s a lot of \u201cwhoa, I\u2019m floating upside down\u201d moments, but by the end of the day, everyone was comfortable and ready to take what they learned into open water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf0a Days 2 & 3: Open Water Training at Lake Jacomo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After getting comfortable in the pool, we moved to Lake Jacomo<\/strong> for two full days of search and recovery training<\/strong>. The lake was calm, the weather was perfect, and we had Muddy River Divers<\/strong> leading the training \u2014 a great group with tons of experience in public safety diving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Open water training is where things get real. The visibility in the lake was, let\u2019s just say, \u201cauthentically murky.\u201d (If you can see your own hand, it\u2019s a good day.) But that\u2019s the point \u2014 this is what real rescue and recovery dives are like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd26 Search Patterns & Recovery Drills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We practiced search patterns \u2014 everything from simple sweep searches to full team grid patterns \u2014 using lift bags and lines. It\u2019s not just about finding something underwater, it\u2019s about doing it safely<\/strong> and communicating with your team topside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also ran through recovery scenarios<\/strong>, which meant carefully bringing objects to the surface. Sometimes those objects are just weighted dummies, sometimes it\u2019s equipment or evidence that needs to be handled gently for law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcac Teamwork in Low-Vis Conditions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the best parts of the weekend was watching newer divers build confidence. Public safety diving is a whole different animal compared to recreational diving \u2014 you\u2019re working in low visibility, often in stressful conditions, with the goal of bringing closure to families or recovering important evidence. Seeing everyone click together as a team was awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83e\udee7 Why I Love Public Safety Diving<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People always ask me, \u201cWhy would you want to dive in a muddy lake when you could just go to Cozumel or Key Largo?\u201d And don\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 I love a good tropical reef dive. But public safety diving gives me something warm water can\u2019t: purpose<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Being able to use my skills to help our community, assist law enforcement, and potentially save lives is incredibly rewarding. It\u2019s not glamorous \u2014 you\u2019re usually wet, cold, and covered in mud by the end of the day \u2014 but it matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, weekends like this one keep our skills sharp. You don\u2019t want to be learning on the job during a real call-out. Training in controlled scenarios means when the pager goes off, we\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udee0\ufe0f Gear, Grit, and Good People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This weekend was a reminder of how much goes into public safety diving beyond just jumping in the water. There\u2019s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Gear checks<\/strong> (because nothing ruins training faster than a blown o-ring)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Safety briefings<\/strong> (everyone needs to know the plan)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Team coordination<\/strong> (divers, tenders, topside communications)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s a lot of work, but when you\u2019re surrounded by a dedicated team who takes it seriously, it\u2019s actually a lot of fun too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    By the end of day three, we were all tired, sore, and probably a little sunburned \u2014 but we were also better divers, better teammates, and better prepared for the next call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83d\udefb Thoughts After the Weekend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    This training weekend reminded me why I joined the Lees Summit Underwater Rescue and Recovery team in the first place. It\u2019s about service, about using my passion for diving to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And yes, it\u2019s also about laughing with your teammates when someone surfaces with a mask full of lake weeds or accidentally faceplants trying to climb back on the dock. Because even when the training is serious, the camaraderie keeps it fun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Most people spend their weekend catching up on Netflix or mowing the lawn. Me? I spent mine waist-deep (okay, fully submerged) in public safety diver training with the Lees Summit Underwater Rescue and Recovery team \u2014 and honestly, I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. For the past three years, I\u2019ve been a volunteer diver […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/515437530_10223424135391749_2248934603981626883_n.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rovingwesty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}