(Le Mars) — Earlier this week the Plymouth County Dive Team was called upon to help rescue a dog that had fallen through some ice on a farm pond near Oyens, and last month the Plymouth County Dive Team was called to Crawford County to assist with the location of a teenage girl that was involved in an accident when the car she was in, went into the Boyer River. The Plymouth County Dive Team may not perform many rescues and recoveries in a year’s time, but they need to be ready when they are called upon. The sheriff’s office oversees the supervision of the dive team. Sergeant Rick Singer of the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office is a member of the Plymouth County Dive Team. He says the county dive team practices different scenarios on a quarterly basis.
There are ten members that comprise the Plymouth County Dive Team. Although our neighbors, Sioux County and Woodbury County, also have dive teams, Singer says very few counties or communities are equipped to handle water-related rescues, and that is when Plymouth County is called upon.
Singer says the dive team was once called upon to help rescue people from a flash flooding episode.
The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Deputy says often times when performing a recovery, the water will be murky and difficult to see, so dive team members have to rely on the sense of touch.
Singer, who is a second generation dive member, says too often, the team is called upon for recovery purposes, as opposed to rescues, but he again recalls the Remsen flash flooding episode rescue, as well as another rescue performed in Le Mars on Memorial Day of 2012.
As mentioned, the team sometimes is called upon to an area outside of Plymouth County. Singer explains the range in which the Plymouth County Dive Team would respond if ever needed.
photos courtesy of Joel Johnson.
