Dive Master Mark Sowash (left) preparing to observer his two students, Nathan Mellas, and Connor Dual (right) in their search skills

It was great to see them all improve each day as they get more used to the public safety side apposed to the sport diving side. they all enjoyed it and progressed more and more each day. At the end of the week they had a chance to put their skills to the test and do a search for vehicles. They searched 2, lakes with a depth of 60′ and visibility of about 25′. found 2 vehicles 1 had been reported stolen in 2008.

Nathan Mcgrath (top) converses with his dive buddy, Jeremy Yoder as they practice a seach they must master to gain the title of a public safety diver

Jordan Harvel (Instructor for CETI Dive corp.) a graduate of ALERT Aquatics over see's the in water skills in the shallow end of the pool

With a class of 25 students and 7 Dive master/Instructors the week went well and everyone adapted quickly from class room teaching to in water practicals. each day the students would dive twice to get the appropriate amount of time underwater to be able to be certified.

Jed Backus shows his students the correct way to find their regulator incase of it being pulled or knocked out of there mouths

they all did extremely well with only a couple problem students the dive masters worked fast and quickly taught all the appropriate skills for open and advanced SCUBA, including underwater navigation, night diving and deep diving. the students all excelled each day to meet all the required skills. In hopes of making the required certifications to make it to a public safety diver this next week through NAPD.

The 40 fathom grotto

The instructor conference was all day Saturday the 30th and half day Sunday the 1st. During the conference they addressed the changes of NASE under its new management. We all had a wonderful time despite the extremely long drive.

In the beautiful blue waters of the grotto

Josh Thomson removing an air hose from the air bag so they can move the pipe to its desired location

Divers Colin Price (right) Josh Thomson (center) and Mark Sowash (left) inside there recovered boat

The boat was lifted in two stages, one just to get it close to the surface and off the bottom and the second to get the sides out of the water so we could start to bail water out of the boat so it would be independent of the lift bags.

The lifting pontoon holds all of our needed gear so it is a short swim to get what is needed nomatter the lift

This Pontoon contained all the gear needed to make a safe controlled lift of any vehicle, small boat, small aircraft, or anything needing to be lifted. It was easy to move and the swim to get more gear short and fast. plus we could lift it wile standing right next to the object, and keep an eye on the lifting process.

(Left to Right)
Colin Price, Joel Talley, Mark Sowash, and Josh Thomson

Agency’s involved: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department , Whitehouse FD, Smith County Sheriff’s Office.

We are glad to report that they did find the victim later the next day.

This past week July 12th through the 16th we had Marina Diver held in Louisiana. We road tripped down Monday morning and started class that night. The following day we went out the Lake Pontchartrain to the 24 Mile long bridge and did pile-on inspections.

between the 24 Mi long bridge

We each inspected several Pile-ons to get a handle on what the work is like.

Mark Sowash swimming to the bridge Pile-on to conduct and inspection

We clean a fishing boat, a pontoon, and a yacht. All in bad shape and had not been kept up, so the work was longer then usual.

Josh Thomson (far left) Colin Price (middle) and Mark Sowash, in front of the 40 ft yacht they cleaned Thursday July 15th 2010

They all did well and all passed there practical skills with flying colors.

The river that was reported to have the safe

The ALERT Dive Team arrived on scene Friday morning at 930 and began to search. Because of zero visibility and shallow depths the search was difficult and longer than expected. Another factor that slowed the search was the amount of garbage found in the river.

A Small Safe Recovered by Brandon Sprunger

Items found were, one computer screen, a car bumper, two motor cycle exhaust pipes, a weed eater, four news paper machines, a candy machine, two fishing pols, a washer, an oven, a refrigerator, a dolly, two safes, a safe door, a machete, and two rifles.

Mark Sowash holding the door to the first recovered safe

The Second safe Recovered by Collier McGhee

Neither of the safes were reported stolen and the guns, including one .22 caliber and one 12 gauge shot gun, both came back clean when there VIN numbers were ran on the sheriffs and police’s data base.

Collin price swims the shot gun to shore for more investigation

The reported Safe was never found,

Divers on scene, Mark Sowash, Collin Price, Collier McGhee, Brandon Sprunger, Benjamin Stoner, and Micah Justice. Tenders, Jedediah Backus and Caleb Hard. Dive Team Coordinator, Capt. Joel Talley. Assistant Coordinator, Casey Zachry. Photographer, Josh Thomson.

Other agency’s involved, Gilmer Police department, Gladewater Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

The event started out with a 6-point navigation exercise to test their map reading and navigation abilities.  One and a half hours were allotted to locate as many of the points as possible scattered widely across campus.

A rotation of three rescue skills comprised the next events.  Men were first called upon to assess and treat an injured victim in the scenario given.

Structural firefighting training was tested as men donned full turnout gear, self-contained breathing apparatus and “black-out” masks and asked to perform a search of a structure.  Similar to real firefighting conditions, teams had to rapidly complete the assignment, stay oriented to location, and remove a victim, all with no visibility.

A manikin trapped under a concrete slab weighing thousands of pounds presented a challenge to the men’s structural collapse training.  Buddy teams used wooden cribbing and pneumatic high-pressure lift bags to safely extricate the victim.

Over brunch, a written exam tested their mastery of the various subjects covered in Emergency Response Training.

Each man ran the ALERT obstacle course competing for the fastest time.  The finishing times of the teammates were combined, with points continuing to accumulate through the various events.

High angle skills, rope work, and comfortability operating at heights are assessed as the men face a strenuous ascent with prussic up the forty foot face of the tower, convert their system and rappel back down competing for speed.

The competition culminated with an “Unknown Distance Run” where the buddy teams began a course not knowing where it would it would lead or how much distance it would cover.  After the 3.1 mile run, the times and scores from each event were totaled to rank the teams.

Once the ship Integrity was loaded they began their three day voyage to Haiti, with each man given a particular on- board assignment which included assisting in navigation, four hour watches, engine room oversight, galley work and a number of other tasks related to sea travel. The journey was not without its’ challenges as a majority of the men experienced the “joys” of sea sickness and toughing it through the rough waters.

Upon arrival God’s hand was at work in mighty ways. The government of Haiti is notorious for its corruption with unscrupulous customs agents looking to cut a deal. This made the unloading of supplies cumbersome and laborious with endless (and needless) inspections and questions, coupled with the unpacking and repackaging of much of the goods.

On more than one occasion the crew paused and cried out to God to intervene and then saw Him respond in powerful ways as He changed the heart – and demands of the authorities.

Land duties consisted of assisting in the shipment of supplies from ship to the base, setting up security fencing, and the distribution of goods. Those men training in our paramedic program had a number of opportunities to assist in the nearby hospital and a mobile clinic. They experienced such joys as assisting the physician in the delivery of a baby girl, as well as the sobering reminders that in many cases medical care is simply limited to the distribution of medication, an encouraging word, and a prayer.

The team also had the opportunity to tour part of Port Au Prince and see first hand the devastation that has taken place and the poverty the nation lives in as a whole. It is difficult to put into words how a nation can survive with so little. The average income for a resident of Haiti is $2.00 per day, with many surviving on less. We have much to be thankful for in our nation and it does cause one to ask if we too could indeed  be living with much less for the sake of God’s kingdom and others with so great a need.

The impact this trip had on our men was great and a number of them hope to return in the near future. Plans are being made to send a second team sometime in the near future and Lord willing other teams as the nation begins moving into a rebuilding mode. We thank God for such ministries as Friend Ships and Samaritan’s Purse for providing the food, shelter and a base for us to work out of in Haiti and look forward to partnering with them in the future.