Loudon County's only dedicated water rescue agency boasts some new faces.

Capt. Chad Walters said that means the Loudon County Dive Rescue Team now has 11 volunteer members.

"We respond to all water-related emergencies on all bodies of water in the county and are available for mutual aid to surrounding counties," Walters said. "There are eight operational public safety divers, including the three that just completed the course and routine. Three are on hold because they just medically can't dive right now."

The local dive and rescue team works with fire departments and law enforcement for water-related emergencies.

"If you look at a map, Loudon County is surrounded by water. One way on the interstate you have the Tennessee River. Down toward Loudon you have water. Then go across the dam you have Fort Loudoun Lake and Tellico Lake. Tellico Village is surrounded by water," Chad Tinch, LCDRT equipment officer, said.

"A lot of new communities are developing by the lake," he said. "We are really lucky in this area to have no more drownings and boat accidents than what we have right now with as many people who use the waterways."

To become a part of the team, Walters said divers must complete an open water basic class and then train in the public safety diver specialty class for a year.

"That's the national standard. It's the requirement," Walters said.

The class, associated with LCDRT, requires safety diver training be done in the field - "black water, where you can't see anything at all," Tinch said.

"Several people can go out and dive but not many people can do what we do in black water. ... The training we do is not in clear, fresh water. You get that training through the open water classes," Tinch said. "When they become more advanced with the dive team we train them in the water around here, black water, to make them more comfortable in a real recovery situation."

"We train once a month at a minimum. ...We dive and we run mocks in the area, from actually running search patterns to boat operations - anything that we could run into in our normal operation," Walters said.
LCDRT has physical requirements to become a public safety diver. As long as a volunteer passes the required physical, they are ready to begin training.

"But not everybody is cut out to dive and deal with the situations," Walters said.

Even if diving isn't a volunteer's thing, they can still help out.

The agency can always use volunteers outside the water, such as a shore technician, who serves as the eyes for the rescue diver.

"During a search, the shore technician guides the rescue diver with commands issued via the rope, in which both the diver and the shore technician are attached. Each pull of the rope has a specific meaning to either the diver or the shore technician, depending on who initiates the pull of the rope and how many pulls there are," according to the LCDRT website.

"Another (volunteer) assists suiting up, serves as boat operators, keep records on tank pressure ...," Walters explained.

The agency began in 1995 with a purpose to primarily support local fire and law enforcement agencies with rescue and recovery divers.

"There was a need. There were no dive rescuers in the county," Walters said. "It had been one of those things where there was a need for that. People were coming in from Blount and Knox counties to do Loudon rescues. If it's an actual situation where you can save someone's life, we could be there on time.

"We routinely respond to drownings, boat accidents, missing persons around the water, waterside or boat fires, in case a firefighter goes in the water, and evidence recovery calls from law enforcement agencies," he added.

LCDRT is a volunteer agency, meaning there are no paid positions and the agency relies heavily on private donations.

"What we do is very specialized. We respond to 12 or fewer calls per year. But when we do respond there is usually no one else that could complete the mission," Walters said. "It is extremely hard to find volunteers to search for a missing person in 50 foot of ice cold black water. It is harder to keep them without proper funding for equipment and ongoing training."

Both Tinch and Walters believe the volunteer agency has a hard time being identified in the public.

"I'd like Loudon County to know more about the dive team. I went and talked with random people and they're like 'Oh. We didn't know we had a volunteer (dive and rescue team). We're there when you need us, but in years past we have been in the background," Tinch said. "We're trying to change this. We're trying to be more involved and have more events, but we are limited on funding. So it's hard for us to use money and go out and promote the dive team when all our money goes to training and keeping all gear up to date."

In addition to private donations, LCDRT does get some grants from the state, money from the county and the United Way, Tinch added.

Tinch said he got involved because he has "a passion for emergency service work." Before coming to the local dive and rescue team in 2008, Tinch was a part of the Knoxville Volunteer Emergency Rescue Squad.

"I got my water certification and then started talking to Chad (Walters) and decided to join the dive team. Through the more training and stuff, I found I like to dive. So I thought, 'Why not become a part of the dive and rescue team?'" he said. "I have the best of both worlds."

LCDRT is currently working on a water safety education program for children.

"But we will be able to tweak the program to fit for varying age groups. We will be available to go and speak about water safety in schools, churches, etc.," Walters said.  

"We're going to implement some new training within next year. We will have a swift water team," Tinch added, explaining the team will be specialized in working in fast moving waters. "We have a couple already trained on it so we will be able to respond to it."