Most of the firefighting work takes place on land, but the fire service also has a 'wet' specialization: water accident prevention. This means: rescuing people (and animals) from the water. As a member of the dive team you can make the difference between rescue or salvage.

Fire diving teams are the most specialized form of water emergency response. The fire brigade's diving teams have two core tasks: surface rescue and diving.

As a surface rescuer, you can rescue people from a distance of up to 200 meters from the shore. You use personal protective equipment, such as a 'dry suit' that insulates you from the water, a safety line, a life jacket and possibly a rescue board.

If a victim is out of sight in water deeper than one and a half metres, then you can only carry out a rescue as a trained and trained fire department diving team. As a firefighter, you can work safely up to a depth of 15 meters in protective diving clothing and diving equipment.

When are you deployed as a fire diver?

A fire brigade diving team is alerted when people or vehicles have fallen into the water. In addition to rescue in acute situations, divers are sometimes also used to search for missing persons in the water and sporadically also to search for missing goods or evidence of a crime. The exception is the search for firearms, because the risk of doing so is too great for the divers.

As a fire diver, you work with the tanker sprayer according to fixed procedures within the diving team. You carry out assignments from the diving team leader and pass on your findings to him via voice communication.

What does a fire diver's equipment consist of?

As a fire brigade diving team you have a vehicle specially equipped for this task, in which the diving equipment and supporting materials are located. The diving suits, which completely isolate the divers from the water, are usually already put on at the barracks. In this way precious time is not lost changing clothes at the scene of the accident. The vehicle contains, among other things, the diving set with full face mask and breathing air bottle, communication equipment and further materials such as a reel with 50 meters of line, rescue stretchers, a ladder and isolation blankets for victims.

How do you become a fire diver?

You must have a working and thinking level at least at VMBO level. You must also meet the requirements set out in the examination regulations for the degree program and you must be at least 18 years old. A physical and diving medical examination is a requirement.