On Thursday July 29th 2021 area dive teams met at Dutchman’s Landing in Catskill along the Hudson River for a joint day of training. The drill was planned and hosted by the and Greene County Sheriff’s office Dive Team and Marine Patrol, other participating agencies were City of Hudson Fire Dept. Dive Team, Athens Fire Dept. Dive Team and Ulster County Sherriff’s Office Dive team.

The day began with a briefing and overview of the planned operations. A dive command post and accountability were established on the shore to keep track of the operation and the rotation of divers. A search area was established and marked by the marine units in the water. A jackstay search was set up by the marine units as divers prepared for the dive. Divers were then shuttled from shore to the dive site and staging boat as needed. Additional divers staged on land. Marine patrol units provided scene security for the dive site.

During the day various tactics and techniques were implemented in the operations to adjust to changing conditions. Divers and tenders were intentionally paired up from differing agencies to help promote agency interoperability. Divers, Tenders, marine patrol, and boat crews also rotated tasks though out the day in an effort to cross train as many personnel in different roles as possible.

Public Safety Diving in the Hudson River is a very dangerous, labor-intensive and resource dependent task. This training highlighted the need for a multi-agency response with trained personnel and resources to respond to incidents on the Hudson River.