Welcome to the total resource guide for the public safety diver, emergency response diver, rapid response diver, law enforcement tactical swimmer, and underwater crime scene technician. Mike and his company, have been providing cutting edge training to professionals in this realm for nearly twenty years. In world of the PSD it is a true statement of fact that it takes one to know one. Recreational instructors and commercial instructors typically have no idea of the particular stressors encountered by public safety professionals. You don’t go to the high school driver’s ed teacher to learn how to operate an emergency vehicle so why would you go to a recreational instructor to learn an even more life threatening skill set for the public safety professional. We have the experience and the contacts to become a one-stop resource for individuals seeking public safety diver training, departments or agencies attempting to set up teams, and teams looking for quality continuing education resources.
Our instructional resource list includes: a veteran law enforcement officer and criminal investigator who was the international training director for one of the largest PSD training agencies in the world; a Captain with the largest fire / rescue department in the Southeastern U.S.; a former SWAT team commander & Special Forces soldier who authored and developed the law enforcement tactical swimmer courses; and several divers from the military special operations community. This resource list gives us a unique understanding of the variety of job site situations encountered by public safety and military professionals and what training methodologies are necessary to prepare you for dealing with them.
Does our system work? Over the past twenty years, we have trained countless teams and the list of professionals in attendance at our courses, lessons, and seminars spans from Thailand to Portugal as well as all across the United States. They include a Deputy Director of the National Judicial Police in Portugal, members of the Portugese National Fire Service, Force Protection Police Officers from Thailand, members of the Singapore military, members of the United States Special Forces community, and dozens upon dozens of other individuals from law enforcement agencies, fire/rescue departments (paid & volunteer) and other governmental entities across the nation and around the globe.
Things you should know. The “Rescue Diver Course” offered by recreational agencies is in fact designed to be a self and buddy rescue diver program. These courses were never intended to provide and, in fact, do not provide the skills necessary for a public safety professional nor do the recreational agencies make any claim that they do. (Cliams to the contrary are usually made by ill informed but well intentioned instructors.) These courses may provide some background and foundation water skills that can be built upon in a proper, rapid response or public safety diver program. But like all other recreational courses, they are not adequate for the training of the PSD professional. Recreational training focuses on recreational activities and the foundation of these courses is deciding when not to dive. Unfortunately, for the public safety or rapid response diver, the circumstances encountered and the risk benefit analysis calculation will be substantially different than those encountered by the diver waiting to see pretty reef fishes in 50 feet of clear, warm tropical water. Although closer in scope than recreational training, commercial training also fails to meet the needs of the public safety professional. Commercial divers also work on dangerous job sites, but they will typically have tools and resources never available in a rapid response mode and rarely available to the public safety dive team at all. The difference in available resources and the stresses of rapid deployment diving require a substantially different set of skills than those obtained by the commercial diver. Finally, you should also know that public safety diving can place the diver in unique legal and liability situations never encountered in the recreational or commercial realm. Get the skills and background training you need to be safe and protect yourself.
The public safety environment also provides unique stressors for diving equipment. The kit utilized by recreational divers is inadequate to meet those needs and although it is rugged enough and comprehensive enough, the kit used by commercial divers is both impractical for rapid response and generally not available to the public safety team. We have the experience to provide your team with realistic options and expert advice on selecting and deploying gear in the real world. We are experienced at submitting bids to governmental entities and would appreciate an opportunity to both assist your team with expert advice and submit a bid to earn your business.
Our team of experts represents well in excess of 50 years of real world experience in various aspects of public safety, military and law enforcement diving. Put our experience to work for you. To see our complete range of diving courses for public safety professionals and Public Safety Diving Instructors please click here or see www.mikeangeexpeditions.com. Since these courses are only offered to professionals they are scheduled individually and will not typically appear on our calendar of events. Please contact mike@seaduction.com to schedule or request a class.