Volunteers with the San Diego Sheriff’s Search and Rescue K-9 unit and dive team trained together for the first time Saturday at Lake Henshaw in East County.
Training involved a capsized boat and a search for a drowning victim. The dive team requested the assistance of the K-9 Unit to narrow the search area. The exercise helped volunteers to understand the capabilities of each unit.
There are currently 15 people on the Sheriff’s Dive Team. Volunteers come from such diverse backgrounds as the military, medicine, law, engineering, information technology, security and firefighting, and all are scuba certified. Some have masters degrees in forensics.
They are called in 24 hours per day to find human remains, weapons and stolen goods in shallow and deep waters. Evidence can range in size from an airplane to a pocket knife.
The Sheriff’s Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer unit that performs wilderness and urban rescues, as well as search for missing and at-risk persons. Teams are available 24 hours per day to respond to local, state and federal agency requests.
The search and rescue and dive teams are always looking for volunteers.
