ESCANABA -- Volunteer firemen, EMTs, and police officers all took part in a three-day dive rescue program in Escanaba.
It included classroom and water training where they learned the basics of becoming a public safety diver. They learned basic scuba skills at the YMCA pool, but later, these techniques will transition to open water. The training was conducted through Dive Rescue International.
The underwater training included taking off the weight belts and removing masks underwater.
"We have situations where a normal recreational scuba diver doesn't encounter the diving we do," said Jon Smith of the Delta County Sheriff's Dive Team.
"Much of the diving we do is conducted in water where we can't see in front of our face. We have to go by feel, and so we have to become accustomed to that environment."
The techniques the divers learned will be used when they do evidence searches or have to recover drowning victims.
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