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The Orange County Fire Rescue Department takes pride in being an all-hazards fire department. With over 88 square miles of water within the department's response area, responding quickly to water-related emergencies is essential.
In 2015, recognizing a need to expand its water rescue capabilities, the Orange County Fire Rescue Department began developing its new Dive Rescue Program. Unlike many other public safety dive teams that lean more towards recovery, this new team was tasked with becoming a true rescue team. This rescue-first mentality meant that new equipment, technology, and deployment models would need to be explored in order to ensure divers could respond quickly to anywhere within Orange County.
A Brief History
Our History and Commitment to Innovation
On June 7th, 2016, the department hosted its first open call swim test for over 100 personnel, all interested in becoming the first Orange County Rescue Divers. Those individuals who passed the swim test and had all their required prerequisite dive certifications were then scheduled to attend the Orange County Fire Rescue Dive Academy. Composed of 10 of the department's most experienced divers, this first Dive Academy commenced on September 26th, 2016. The department's Special Operations Training Section would then continue to host Dive Academies throughout the following years in an effort to bolster the number of Rescue Divers available in the County.
Today, under the direction of Water Rescue Program Lead Lieutenant Brandon Allen, the department has over 200 Rescue Divers staffing 13 full-time and 31 up/down dive-capable suppression units. The Dive Program continues to grow and evolve by taking on new challenges while embracing new advancements in training, technology, and equipment.
Deployment Model
Getting the Resources to the Call
An initial challenge faced when developing the Dive Program was to create a deployment model that would get divers on the scene of a water rescue call quickly. A response time goal of 10 minutes was set, to get a least 1 rescue diver on the scene anywhere in Orange County. With over 800 square miles of service area, the traditional centralized dive team concept that many departments use was not going to provide the response times that the department was aiming for, so a new concept was developed to place divers strategically throughout the county.
On February 24th, 2027, three strategically placed suppression units staffed with at least one diver and dive gear were placed in service. Later that year on July 17th, 2017, an additional dive-capable suppression unit was added, giving the department a dive response in each quadrant of the county. While these 4 units didn't achieve the department's 10-minute response goal, they provided adequate coverage in areas of the county that historically had the highest water rescue call volume. Over the next few years, the department continued to add additional dive-capable apparatus. These additional units would bring the total number of dive units to 13 and meet the department's 10-minute response goal.
On February 27th, 2023, to expand the department's dive rescue capabilities and reduce response times even further, the department began the implementation of up/down dive units to supplement the department's 13 full-time dive apparatus. These up/down dive units are each equipped with a full set of dive equipment that can be utilized anytime a rescue diver is part of the unit's daily staffing.
Today the department currently operates 13 full-time and 31 up/down dive-capable apparatus. Looking towards the future, it is the goal of the department to have dive gear on every suppression unit by the end of 2026.
When considering a dive deployment model that best meets the needs of your department, consider the following questions:
What is your dive team's primary mission… rescue, recovery, or a combination of both?
What is your dive response time goal?
Will your dive team be centralized or decentralized and does this deployment model support your team's primary mission and response goal?
Equipment
Dive Gear
The Orange County Fire Rescue Department's Dive Team responds on average to 3 water rescue calls per month. The majority of the calls involve a report of a vehicle in a body of water. With this in mind, the Aqua Lung Rapid Diver was selected by the department as the primary dive system when developing the dive team. Chosen for its compact design and its ability to deploy quickly, the Rapid Diver system was ideal for the swift rescue of victims from submerged vehicles or other water-related emergencies.
Exposure protection was also a factor when it came to choosing dive equipment. Often the department's Rescue Divers would find themselves diving into murky retention ponds located just off the road or highway. Concerned about contamination already in the water and fluid that might be released by a submerged vehicle, the department decided to forgo the traditional mouthpiece regulator in favor of a full face mask produced by Ocean Technology Systems or OTS. Not only does the full face mask provide exposure protection for the diver's oral and nasal passages but also allows for the ability to communicate with the diver. The OTS full face mask allows audible and verbal communications to be integrated directly into the mask connecting the diver to their line tender on the shore, creating a safer and more effective dive operation.
As the dive team grew and expanded over the years so did its mission and the types of water-related emergencies the team responded to. In addition to vehicles in the water, the dive team was now responding to reports of missing swimmers, boating accidents, and downed planes in the water. While the Rapid Diver system was perfectly suited for rescuing a trapped occupant in a sinking car, it provided some limitations and challenges on longer duration dive calls due to the system's limited air supply. To address these challenges the department began to transition away from the Rapid Diver to a more traditional dive system.
The Orange County Fire Rescue Dive Team now utilizes the Aqua Lung Pro QDM buoyancy control device and 80 cubic foot tank as its primary dive system. The larger tank's air supply allows for a longer duration
dive while also increasing safety. Utilizing traditional SCBA brackets on each of the department's dive-capable suppression units, this system still allows divers to quickly don their dive gear and make rapid entry into the water to begin rescue efforts.
No matter the type, style, or brand of dive equipment that your department chooses to use, it is important that it fits your team's needs. Below are links to dive equipment used by the Orange County Fire Rescue Department.*
OTS Full Face Mask and Dive Communications
*Orange County Fire Rescue does not endorse, sponsor, or promote any specific manufacturer, brand, or vendor. All equipment shown may be part of operational inventory or used for evaluation and does not imply a formal partnership or preference.
Training
"Keeping Our Feet Wet"
Training is the cornerstone of a safe and effective team. Often the transition from a recreational SCUBA diver to a public safety diver can be a big jump, especially for those individuals without a lot of dive experience. While a basic SCUBA certification is required at a minimum to dive, this recreational dive course does not provide future rescue divers with the level of training and skillsets to operate safely and effectively.
During the development of Orange County's Dive Program, the department sent seven individuals to a nationally recognized public safety diver training agency, where they could obtain dive certifications related to their role as Rescue Divers. Once certified, these individuals were tasked with developing the department's internal Dive Academy.
The Dive Academy is designed to give individuals with recreational diving experience the training and skills necessary to function as a Rescue Diver. This 80-hour, intense training academy delivers this information to the candidates in a crawl, walk, run curriculum style. Beginning with a weeklong pool phase, dive candidates are subjected to water endurance and confidence drills and are taught basic foundational skills. After the pool phase, candidates progress on to open water where their training continues through realistic training scenarios in real-world diving conditions. At the conclusion of the Dive Academy, each candidate will have the confidence and skills necessary to function as a Rescue Diver and will have built a solid foundation that they and the training staff can continue to build upon.
A diver's training however does not stop after the Dive Academy. Time in the water is essential for a diver to maintain their proficiency and confidence. Each year, every diver is required to complete 24 hours of recertification training and successfully pass an annual swim test. This mandatory hands-on training is
completed quarterly and covers a wide variety of topics from back-to-the-basics dive skills to large-scale realistic dive scenarios.
While there are many organizations and agencies that teach public safety diving courses, it is important to choose a training series that is taught by professionals in the industry and meets the needs of your team. The Orange County Fire Rescue Department has utilized the following agencies for our training needs:
Emergency Response Diving International
Equipment Maintenance
Equipment Maintenance
A thorough, well documented equipment maintenance plan is paramount for the safety of any dive team. Regular service helps ensure your gear is functioning correctly, prolongs its lifespan, and can prevent costly repairs or safety issues.
During the first few years the dive team's operation, general repairs and annual maintenance were contracted out to a local dive shop. This is a common practice for many teams due to its convenience, especially for smaller dive teams. However, as the team's equipment cache grew, it became less feasible and cost effective to rely on local dive shops to meet our repair and servicing needs.
To meet the maintenance needs of our growing team, the decision was made to mirror our department's SCBA maintenance program, by servicing all of our dive equipment internally. Today, the Orange County Fire Rescue Department staffs one dive repair technician internally who has been certified by Aqua Lung and OTS to perform repairs, annual servicing, and general maintenance on over 50 sets of front run and training dive gear.
When designing a dive maintenance plan consider the following questions:
Will your team be servicing dive equipment internally or going to an outside vendor?
Do you have a local dive shop that will meet your team's needs by being able to service your dive equipment in a timely and cost effective manner?
If choosing an internal model, does the manufacturer of your team's dive gear provide a process to certify dive equipment repair technicians in-house?
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