Below the surface
A look at the District’s new dive team
Story & photos by Jonathan Guerrero
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2009 -You are alone, 60 feet below the ocean surface and can barely distinguish your own hands as a cloud of sediment hovers blocking the daylightfrom far above. You feel the cool marine water through your full-body wetsuit and stand on the bottom knee-deep in mud weighed down with 80 pounds of gear. Suddenly, your breathing is strained, and you realize something is wrong. You remain calm but a final shallow gasp of air is your only relief. Your equipment has malfunctioned.
This scenario was one of many open-water training drills the San Francisco District Dive team as well as others from around the country overcame during the three-week Worker Diver Certification program at the Advanced Underwater Education Center in Key West, Fla.
In addition to the open-water training, divers were tested on the fundamentals in technical areas such as: diving physics, decompression sickness, gas toxicity, underwater tools, USACE diving regulations, thermal stress, equipment operation and underwater inspection.
Following the death of a USACE diver in 2005, new protocols and guidelines were added to ensure the safety of all members involved. There are many hazards associated with each dive requiring thorough preparation for basic issues such as the equipment, job environment and emergency evacuation measures, to complex problems including the amount of time a diver can remain beneath the surface due to nitrogen build up in the bloodstream.
The health of the members on your team is your primary objective as you work together to execute a mission. While a diver may work alone beneath the surface, they are in the hands of their teammates far above who maintain their tether and air, supervise, operate communications and stand by to deploy should an accident occur.
Midway through the course, trainees found themselves pulling an unconscious diver out of the water and preparing them for evacuation by helicopter after a hypothetical accident occurred. The training scenario forced the team to draw upon lessons learned during the course including dispensing oxygen, diagnosing the injury, briefing EMT and clearing the landing zone. Having an actual helicopter and EMT personnel from the nearby hospital made the frightening scenario come to life.
As a cumulative test of the skills acquired during the course, trainees were challenged to raise a sunken school bus stuck 40 feet below in the underwater training facility and extract it in preparation for maintenance dredging.
All steps, from devising a plan, surveying, rigging and final removal were developed and executed as a team. Using chains, lifting balloons and muscle, the class effectively extracted the bus.
Greg Altman, Brian Becker, Jeremiah Brazil, Derrick Dunlap, Jonathan Guerrero, Blair Jackson and Eric Joliffe from the newly activated San Francisco Dive team successfully completed the Worker Diver certification process.
The SPN team is the only USACE dive team in the West and will assist the four districts of the South Pacific Division with inspections of breakwaters, bridges, levees, dams, locks, environmental surveys and dredging hydro-surveying beginning January 2010.
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OK Sign Caption
Jonathan Guerrero, above, gives the A-OK sign as he surfaces from the pool at the Advanced Education Underwater Center.