Dive teams
Fire and rescue services should try to identify dive teams, from the police or other organisations, that can provide an underwater search and rescue capability for incidents involving a submerged person. It may be beneficial for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be developed between such organisations and the fire and rescue service.
If available, dive teams should be mobilised to incidents where a fire and rescue service intervention is not possible. This may be due to the depth or position of a submerged person, or a situation that may result in personnel being exposed to an underwater rescue situation.
Restrictions that prohibit dive teams from providing assistance, such as volunteer staffing levels, weather conditions or reduced visibility, should be considered when mobilising or requesting resources.
Specialist resources and equipment
If the resources on-scene are unable to carry out the rescue of a submerged person, the attendance of specialist resources should be considered, such as:
- Enhanced rescue teams, with capabilities to operate on the surface of the water
- Resources with stand-off search and rescue capabilities
- Water search dogs
Examples of equipment that can be used include:
- Reach poles and attachments
- Underwater drones
- Cameras
- Sonar equipment
- Aquascope (bathyscope)