SOP - Dive Team
Standard Operating Procedure
Port Authority Dive Team
1.1 - Foundation and Tasks
The Dive Team was founded in order to assist local law enforcement agencies within San Andreas.
The primary task is to search and recover evidence for ongoing investigations by local law enforcement. They may also inspect ship hulls or anything below sea level for anything unusual.
The secondary task is underwater search and rescue operations, assisting law enforcement and fire rescue personnel.
The Dive Team should not be deployed for anything else.
1.2 - Enrollment
Port Officers may be promoted to Dive Team Officers if they uphold the following standards:
Must be PA trained for at least 30 days
Must be active as Port Authority
Must be in good standing with PA, your departments and Aspirant Gaming
Must be recommended and notified by the PA Commander
2.1 - Activating Dive Team
When actively running as Dive Team, you must have a secondary dive team officer with you. You must also sit at either a law enforcement station or a deployment zone.
Dive Team may only respond to calls requiring a diver or all calls.
When activating as Dive Team for a call, at least one officer must go to a station to retrieve the dive team truck, the secondary officers may respond to the call location, if they are Port Authority.
2.2 - Roles
To ensure as much safety as possible, at least two qualified officers are required for dive operations. Under no circumstances should a dive operation happen without both roles being occupied, or with untrained personnel occupying said roles.
2.2.1 - Radio Officer
This role is very important for safe diving operations. Their main task is to keep the diver safe. They must check up on the divers well being at least once every 5 minutes, as well as relaying relevant information to other units on scene and if needed dispatch. They should also notify the diver if they have spotted anything unusual or if their dive time exceeded 25 minutes.
2.2.2 - Diver
The diver is responsible to fulfill the required tasks as safely as needed. Under no circumstances should they endanger themselves or anyone else. They should also keep the radio officer updated on anything important.
2.2.3 - Buddy System
Under some circumstances it may be helpful having two or more divers pair up in a buddy system. Having divers assist each other with their tasks is another step to make diving operations as safe as possible.
2.3 - Diver Safety
2.3.1 - Pre Dive
Before the diver goes into water, the dive team should do a briefing, making sure the operation will be conducted safely. The following aspects should be considered:
Meteorological Conditions (weather)
Time
Water Temperature
Water Currents
Visibility
Possible Hazards in and around the area of operation
Any Lives in Danger
Should the briefing yield that a safe operation is not possible, the diver must not go into the water or postpone the operation once it will be safe.
2.3.2 - During Dive
While diving it is important to always be aware of your surroundings. Some San Andreas waters are habitats to wildlife such as sharks and killer whales. There are also a lot of wrecks on the sea bed the diver must be aware of. The following aspects must be kept in mind at all times:
You must not stay underwater for a maximum of 30 minutes.
You must not exceed 200ft of depth.
You must pause in regular intervals while ascending and descending.
2.4 - Communication
While diving the diver won’t have access to the regular emergency services radio, instead the dive team will use a seperate through water electronic comms system, which allows uninterrupted communication between diver and radio officer. This is a closed system only Port Authority Dive Team has access to (Use a Tac-Channel for this).
In case the comms system can not be used, either because of malfunctions, or to communicate with other divers, it is recommended to learn the most common hand signals: http://www.neadc.org/CommonHandSignalsforScubaDiving.pdf
2.5 - Recovery
Collecting and recovering evidence is the main task for the Dive Team. This may be anything from just a small ring up to an entire commercial truck, including weapons, dead bodies or black boxes from crashed planes. The team should get briefed on what they need to look for by the investigating officers (local LEO, CIU, ATSU, etc). In case anything else is found, that should be recovered as well.
Divers may use equipment provided from their truck or other emergency service assets to recover anything needed.
2.6 - Search and Rescue
Dive Team may also be called to assist in underwater search and rescue operations. Depending on the situation a SAR grid may be used, however in some cases it may be useful to look for anything someone may get stuck at. This situation may need multiple divers.
While resurfacing you may use a spare SCUBA tank or share your air, however you must keep in mind that the maximum dive time will be a lot less. Do pause in regular intervals during resurfacing. Be careful to ensure neither you or the rescued diver get the bends.
2.7 - Post Dive
After the diving operation has been conducted, the diver should rest for about 5-10 minutes. The diver should also stay hydrated and stay with the team for this time. In case the diver doesn’t feel well / feels sick, medics should be called immediately. You should also not get on a plane nor climb any mountains 24 hours after diving.
3.1 - Equipment
The following items are found on the Dive Team truck:
Wetsuit*
Mask*
SCUBA Tanks*
Diving Knife*
Light*
Evidence Bags
Inflatable Air Bags
Scissors
Crowbar
Emergency Locator Beacons
Depth Gauge*
Diver Guard (Pull a ribbon to make a buoyancy aid inflate in case of emergency)*
Equipment marked with an asterix (*) must be on diver while diving.
3.2 - Uniform Structure
Dive Team officers will wear the regular PA uniform while on land. The diver must change into the wetsuit on scene.
3.3 - Weapon Structure
As Dive Team officers only carry basic equipment for self defense. The diver does not carry any weapons while in their wet suit.
Weapon: | Options: |
Combat Pistol or Pistol | Approved Tints: Black, Platinum, Army (Platinum/Army for Combat Pistol only) Yusuf Amir Luxury Finish allowed (For Combat Pistol only) Flashlight required On Person |
Nightstick, Flashlight | On Person |
Flares, Fire Extinguisher | In Vehicle |
3.4 - Vehicle Structure
The Dive Team truck is considered a response vehicle and must never be taken to calls outside of dive operations, the only exception being all calls.
The lighting requirement for Dive Team varies from regular Port Authority, as a roof mounted lightbar is not required.
The license plate must follow the following standard, with xxx being the unit number of the officer operating the vehicle: xxx DIVE
Spawncode: | Model: | Options: |
LEO9 | Dodge RAM | Roof mounted lightbar OR visor light bar |
3.5 - Callsign
Dive Team will still operate under the Port Authority Callsign O, however they must designate themselves by adding *DIVE* to your name on Teamspeak. Two officers pairing up for operations will not be considered a car unit. Vessel call signs must not be included, if the name is too long.
O *DIVE* | Oscar | Ocean | Port Authority Dive Team |
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