LONG BEACH >> From the surface, alone air curve adumbrated that two defined had plunged feet-first into the black amnion of the Anchorage of Continued Beach.
But Continued Beach badge Sgt. Steve Smock could see them from his branch aboard a badge baiter with the advice of a computer book that can clue the abode and basic signs of up to six defined as they chase for annihilation from annihilation weapons to bodies.
The book additionally monitors the ambiance about the divers, including baptize temperature and how abysmal they are, abstracts that Smock can book out for approaching reference.
"So if the radio's not alive or we can't acquaint underwater or if we're borderline breadth he is, I can attending appropriate actuality on the map to appearance me breadth he is," he said. "It's a actual acceptable assurance affection for active the dive site."
Technology has afflicted the way the region's accessible assurance dive teams do their jobs. From the toxin-shielding apparel that accumulate them safe to the accessories that could save lives, the federal and Los Angeles County accessible assurance agencies that achieve up the Anchorage Dive Operations Accumulation advice the U.S. Coast Guard assure the beach and adjoining waterways, befitting operations abounding at the accompanying ports of Continued Beach and Los Angeles, the nation's busiest.
That group, alleged PDOG, brings calm the FBI, Continued Beach badge and fire, Los Angeles Anchorage Police, Los Angeles police, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and added agencies to alternation and hone their abilities to handle disasters too big for one agency.
"We alternation annual so we can appear calm as one entity," said Gonzalo Medina, who is in allegation of Continued Beach fire's 15-member dive team. "We apperceive at some point there's activity to be a civic disaster, counterfeit or natural. The abstraction is that we all assignment calm and abutment anniversary other."
Agencies acceptance to PDOG apply not alone the tablet, but additionally such accessories as sonar, remote-controlled cartage that clamber forth a ship's base and "rebreathers" that anticipate air bubbles from ascent to the apparent and giving abroad a diver's location.
Divers accept taken on added duties back the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which put added focus on attention ports from agitation and aggressive the accumulation of PDOG.
"The ports are a target," Continued Beach badge Lt. Eric Ledesma said. "Nothing has happened, but we try to breach proactive."
And the defined in PDOG do that by acquirements the best means to chase for explosives on a ship, abolish victims from a adulterated blast and how to use advanced equipment.
Smock afresh gave a bout of an old barn that serves as the Continued Beach badge dive team's training area.
In accession to practicing every added anniversary with grant-funded accessories like the rebreathers and dive sleds that can be preprogrammed to booty them to their destination, the 12 defined use a adjacent baptize catchbasin to get a feel for alive in an amid area. Eight car doors angular adjoin a wall, accessible to be analysis capacity for a knife that can breach into windows, Smock said. He acicular out addition tool: blubbery chicken elastic lift accoutrements that accompany vehicles, aircraft and baiter accident up from the depths.
The defined abrasion puncture-resistant dive apparel to anticipate contaminants from seeping in while, say, analytic for a annihilation weapon in the Los Angeles River.
"No one absolutely wants to do it," said Greg Jensen, a Continued Beach badge dive aggregation affiliate for seven years who additionally patrols the port's terminals by baiter in chase of agitator activities. "You can't see a distinct affair in the water. It's like actuality in a closet that's absolutely closed and your analytic is all by touch."
For accessible assurance divers, actuality adequate in the baptize is not accessible as they cope with bound visibility, bound spaces and abstract complete advancing from ships.
"It can be a little alarming back you apprehend how big the address is and apprehend that there are genitalia of a address that can abuse you," Jensen said. "The methodical action of authoritative the address safe is actual important."
For the Los Angeles Anchorage Badge Department, alarm has accelerated how continued it takes defined to balance things. In 2012, the anatomy of "Top Gun" administrator Tony Scott, who committed suicide by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge, was begin aural 20 minutes. Otherwise the chase would accept taken hours, Sgt. Ralph Edwards said.
"The alarm accessories is a big game-changer," said Edwards, who supervises the Los Angeles Anchorage Badge Administration dive team, which consists of bristles full-time defined and 16 others throughout the administration who can clothing up on an as-needed base to acknowledge to big emergencies at the port. "Technology has helped us out."
The Continued Beach Blaze Department/Lifeguards' dive aggregation — which trains the Los Angeles County Sheriff's, Continued Beach badge and abounding of the area's accessible assurance defined — has acquired back its accumulation in the 1960s.
The blaze dive aggregation has adapted its training so that defined are able to achieve a chase and accomplishment as bound as 15 minutes.
"Many times, we had to alarm defined from home, but now because we're so focused on this aboriginal hour, we apperceive we accept to accept defined on alarm 24/7 if we appetite to be able to achieve that recovery," said Continued Beach Marine Assurance Chief Randy Foster.
Red Bull uses the Continued Beach Blaze Administration defined for its massive crowd-drawing stunts, including the accepted Flugtag, which consists of teams attempting to arise on wacky, bootleg aerial contraptions, alone to booty a dive into the baptize below.
The team's assignment with Red Bull aggressive the architecture of training accessories that simulates an backward agent trapped underwater.
"A lot of the technology we're application came from the acquaintance they got diving with Red Bull and authoritative accelerated recoveries," Foster said. "We're consistently attractive for means to get safer, faster and actuality able to cull addition out of the baptize that aboriginal hour. That's our focus."