7 from Manatee County Sheriff’s Office survive deadly training session

Sgts. Mark Morie, Theron Robinson, Russell Schnering, Detective Stephen Ives, and deputies Thomas Baurle, William McBride and Jerod Wolfe will share the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Deputy of the Month honor for May.

On April 15, the dive team members attended a training day at the Blue Grotto in Levy County to train 90 feet below the water’s surface.

Another group of three divers, including the instructor, were using re-breather Scuba equipment while simulating cave exploration. One diver found himself in distress as his re-breather warning indicators illuminated to warn of toxic gasses in the system. Unable to engage his emergency bail bottle of breathable compressed air, his situation quickly became critical as he became pinned against the limestone on the roof of the cave.

Ives took immediate action to help free the diver and guide him to the surface where he called a “Diver Down” emergency. Wolfe helped Ives bring the diver to the cave entrance platform where they met the other members of the team. Robinson and Schnering pulled the diver from the water while McBride instructed the owners to call 911. They all conducted CPR while waiting for EMS but the diver had succumbed to breathing a toxic mixture of gasses.

The quick reactions, teamwork and application of training under the real-life pressure of trying to save a fellow diver is a testament for their heroism and professionalism, according to Sheriff Brade Steube.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "7 from Manatee County Sheriff’s Office survive deadly training session."