Water Rescue

WATER RESCUE

BES provides rescue and recovery services in swiftwater, surface ice, and subsurface water environments on behalf of the Boulder County Sheriff Office. Other fire juridictions in the region also request BES through mutual aid for the same services. BES is the primary dive rescue team in Boulder County.

All BES divers and swiftwater rescue technicians are trained and certified to the highest standards by Dive Rescue International, the internationally recognized experts on water rescue. BES also has nationally certified in-house instructors and provides water rescue training to other agencies in the Boulder County area.

BES water rescue services:

• Rescue of person(s) endangered by the water environment.
• Recovery of person(s) and/or evidence in water environments.
• Water safety for other rescue teams operating near dangerous water.
• SONAR search capabilities, including analyzing images with software.
• Working toward regionalizing the water rescue function in Boulder County.

Challenges:

Dive and other water rescue skills are perishable. Our heavy training schedule can be difficult for volunteers to attend and maintain. The annual in-water swim fitness test is demanding and requires the volunteer dive team member to stay in top physical condition throughout the year. Equipment is costly and some maintenance, such as dive masks, requires certified technicians to repair and maintain.