The Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office Dive and Water Emergency Response Team is responsible for the underwater search, rescue and recovery operations that have been directed and requested by the Sheriff. The Team covers the entire county and is a joint team comprised of members from Sheriff’s Office and Mankato Department of Public Safety. Dive operations range from river recoveries to deep lake diving and thin ice incidents. As a primary response service, the Team is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Team is trained in and equipped following public safety diver standards and recovery protocols, and is supplemented by modern technology including sonar array, underwater cameras and communication devices. The Team has extensive monthly training in operations of boats, search/rescue and other equipment.
Safety is our priority! Our divers typically dive individually with two backup divers immediately available, and tethered to a surface support member who directs the dive via underwater communications gear. Depending on the incident that the Team is responding too, multiple boats may be used in a coordinated effort to cover an area that is suitable for sonar and divers.