Alameda County's Office of Emergency Services relies on a dedicated group of volunteers, to assist the sheriff's department and other county organizations in underwater rescue and recovery operations.
This website provides resources for dive team members, and provides information to individuals and organizations interested in our activities.
Although most of the members of our organization started diving as a recreational pursuit, our activities are only partially related to recreational diving. Our public safety diving assignments usually involve zero-visibility diving at the end of a tether, in locations that would never be listed in a travel brochure.
Our role is to serve the public, recovering evidence for criminal investigations, searching for drowning and homicide victims, or verifying that no such items exist in an underwater region.
Since our dives are usually done in cold water with little or no visibility and a high probability of entanglement, we perform extensive training to make sure our activities are as safe and effective as possible. Our unit employs state-of-the-art search and recovery techniques, and all members are expected to attain a high degree of proficiency using these techniques.
As volunteers, we supply our own equipment, and perform our training and response activities without pay.
Prospective unit members are expected to complete at least a full year of training and pass an Alameda County Sheriff Department background check before participating as full members.
Our members are drawn from all parts of the community. Our number includes a high percentage of divemasters and instructors, but beyond proficient dive skills, the primary requirement is a desire to serve the community.