|
What is DART?
The
Drowning Accident Rescue Team (DART) is a non-profit (501(c)3), all volunteer
organization which is funded completely by donations, grants, and fundraiser
events.
What is DART's mission?
Our
primary mission is to save lives and recover property from the various lakes
and waterways in and around Sacramento County. As well as responding to various
Northern California jurisdictions. We accomplish this mission through numerous
rescue, recovery and prevention activities.
Who are we?
We have over fifty volunteers coming from all
walks of life and have various talents including diving, medical and
administrative skills:
SCUBA
Instructors Dive Masters Open Water Divers Swift Water Rescue Instructors Paramedics EMT's Firefighters Police Officers Sheriff's
Officers Salvage Divers Engineers Lawyers Bankers Security Guards
Pharmacists Realtors
Computer Specialists Accountants
Contractors Mechanics
Delivery Personnel Laboratory Technicians
Grocery Clerks Mathematicians Retired
personnel ....
Our volunteers contribute their available time and resources and
participate in ongoing training provided by the team and outside rescue
agencies.
DART
is unique in that it was created by divers to perform public safety diving
while most other agencies train fire fighters or law enforcement personal how
to dive for public safety diving.
How is DART activated?
Dart
members are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year (366 on leap years). If
there is a water related accident we are dispatched by Fire Dispatch via alpha
numeric pagers that tell us:
-
What the nature of the accident is: Vehicle in the
river, drowning, boat overturned, etc.
-
Whether the call is a rescue or a recovery: Are there
suspected victims?
-
Have the victims been submerged for more than an hour?
-
Where the accident occurred: A physical
description is given (county, city, river, marina, cross streets, etc.).
-
A Thomas Brother's map page and grid.
How do the
members respond?
DART members that can
respond to a call dial into a group page number with the following information:
-
Operational
level: Shore Support, Recovery Diver or Rescue Diver.
-
Operations number: 2 digit for Team Leaders, 3 digit for
all others.
-
Mode of transport: Personal vehicle or one of two
emergency vehicles (DART 1 & DART 2)
-
ETA: Time to the scene or to the
location(s) where DART
1 & DART 2 are kept.
What if a
member can't respond?
DART
members respond when they can. If a member cannot respond because of a work or
personal conflict, then they don't have to. If the Team Leader reviews the
pages and sees that there are insufficient responders, the Team Leader will
contact fire dispatch and have a page sent out requesting additional personnel.
If a member is responding and suddenly can no longer respond (out of gas, flat
tire, etc.), then the member sends a second page to the group number indicating
that they can no longer respond. That way everyone knows that the member is no
longer responding.
|
