The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has developed innovative methods to address a historically challenging problem. Using an assortment of sonar devices and underwater cameras, DNR is often able to recover the bodies of those that were once thought lost to the water, and in doing so provide families of drowning victims some much sought-after closure.
After being inspired by the FBI’s use of sonar equipment during the recovery of two young drowning victims, DNR received a Homeland Security grant to make the new technology a permanent resource for Georgia. The grant initially provided for one sonar side scanner and a single operator. Since then, it has afforded the unit an additional six side scan sonars, two sector scans, two remote-operated vehicles and two pontoon boats.
The sonar scanners provide a live, real-time image of objects beneath the water’s surface. By skillfully interpreting the often ambiguous shapes that appear on the screen, operators determine where the victim is most likely located. After marking the location with a buoy, a small ROV is lowered into the water, where it operates as a live-view remote-controlled submarine. Images are immediately sent back up to the boat, and once the body has been identified, operators are faced with a choice: employ the traditional method, in which divers spend long amounts of time in water typically 80 to 100 feet deep, or recover the victim using the ROV. As frequently as possible, operators opt for the latter.
The ability to use the ROV for victim recovery is due to members of the sonar team Sgt. Jason Roberson and Cpl. Adam Loudermilk, who recognized another opportunity to use the technology. While the ROV was already used to assist the above-water team with underwater imagery and reducing the number of divers put at risk, the pair collaborated on attaching a snare to the ROV that, when slipped onto a victim and tightened, could be used to recover them as the ROV resurfaces.
Cpl. Eddie Tompkins, who works mostly on Lake Lanier, explained that even with the significant technological additions to the team’s methods, recovering drowning victims is not without its challenges. After a drowning is initially called in to the local 9-1-1 center, the area’s game warden is notified. Tompkins’ team then assesses how to best respond. He either recommends the county utilize their dive team or sends out one of the state’s 18 sonar operators, all game wardens that have completed more than 40 hours of training for using this combination of equipment.
Trainees receive a comprehensive lesson on everything they might be faced with on the water: the side scan, the sector scan, the ROV and more. This training includes complex dry runs in which students take time to assemble the equipment on land and use it in dummy recoveries.
On some occasions, instructors will give little guidance on the scenario, even withholding information on whether there’s a dummy in the water or not, in order to give trainees a more realistic exercise.
Game-warden-in-training Chris Hall, who accompanied the team during a dummy recovery exercise, believes that the hands-on training he and the sonar team members go through is crucial to fostering trust within the agency.
“As a normal game warden in this position that’s not assigned to the sector scan unit, it’s nice knowing that you have guys that are specially trained to come and assist us in the field when we need them,” said Hall, “and that this resource is available to help you finish your call or get closure for a family in a tragic situation.”
Finding and recovering a victim typically takes a day or two, but factors like daylight and timber that have settled at the bottom of the water prompt operators to operate the equipment mostly at night. “We can see the equipment better, and there are less boats to deal with,” explained Tompkins, who added that, despite the intense hours and repercussions, a recovery is rewarding because of the closure it gives to the victims’ families. “Our goal is to locate and recover the victim as quickly and safely as possible in order to bring comfort and closure to the grieving family.”
Given the effectiveness of DNR’s use of this technology, the agency has shared the design with other law enforcement groups throughout the state and country, in an effort to provide as much easement to grieving families as possible. Those wishing to learn more about DNR’s sonar technology are encouraged to contact Mark McKinnon, DNR Public Affairs Officer, at Mark.McKinnon@dnr.ga.gov.
Comments