ORLANDO, Fla. — Following a series of water rescues over the past several weeks, Orange County's dive team is expanding and training new recruits on how to pull people from cars that have crashed in water.
- Orange Co. dive team expands, gets new equipment
- Follow series of water rescue in the county
- Team will be training with new equipment at Lake Underhill
"Our dive team, we get calls all throughout the month, and just over the last two or three weeks, we've been called out to more than six calls for water rescue emergencies," said Lt. Brandon Allen with the Orange County Fire Department Dive Rescue Team.
Diving into dark murky water, unsure of what they are diving into is exactly what the Orange County Fire Rescue team has to deal with on a regular basis. That's why as of now -- despite being in a land locked county -- they are the second largest dive rescue team in the state.
"If our diver goes in the water, and he comes across a car, he sees that there are three people in the car, and he can immediately radio back to the shore,” Allen said.
Rescuers say you can also get your own gear to help save yourself, like this a window flash, where even under tons of water pressure, you can easily bust out of the window yourself.
No matter the circumstance however, the dive rescue teams say they are working to be prepared for anything in hopes of saving someone within minutes.
"We like to train in real life so that when our divers are in those real emergency situations, it's not new to them -- it's something they've done over and over again,” Allen said.
Spectrum News was told the trainers will be working to rescue a dummy out of a makeshift vehicle every night here at Lake Underhill for the next few weeks, training with their new safety equipment.