MISSION READY
Rescue vs. Recovery
WARNING - What you are about to read DOES NOT take the place of qualified training!!
As underwater criminal investigators, it's important to be trained not only in recovery diving but, rescue diving as well. This knowledge and training will allow us to properly respond and handle drowning cases. The difference between recovery and rescue diving is that in recovery diving, the person has been underwater for a long time and we are recovering a dead body. In rescue diving, because of a shorter submersion time and the right conditions, the attempt is made not only to recover the submerged person, but to revive them as well.
I did not want to write a lot about this topic because others have done that already and have done a better job than I could ever do. I do want to mention it on the site and think it is important that we know what we are doing when we get to the scene of a drowning. So, to get you pointed in the right direction, here are two articles I think you should read and be familiar with.
To learn more about Immersion Hypothermia and Cold Water Near-drowning
To learn more about dive team liability, this is a court case worth reading:
http://www.michbar.org/opinions/us_appeals/2004/072904/24022.pdf