The Murrysville Medic One dive team has searched for missing people, evidence and even for severed fingers.

They’ve searched ponds, creeks and quarries. But they’ve never searched a swimming pool.

Searching is just one of the things Medic One divers will demonstrate June 28 at the Murrysville Swim Club in Murrysville.

“The swim club reached out to us,” said Medic One Director Darrick Gerano. “We’ll bring a display of some of our equipment, we’ll be showing evidence recovery and showing some swimming techniques.”

Getting around underwater is much different for divers than regular swimmers.

“With normal swimming it’s: you jump in and your arms and legs are going. When you’re diving, you’re hovering in the water, so one kick will take you a long way,” Gerano said. “You really don’t use your arms at all.”

Among the team’s dive kit is equipment that helps regulate buoyancy, “and you’re constantly adjusting it,” Gerano said.

And, while some of the team’s training dives in regional rock quarries are in relatively clear water, divers’ vision will be picture-perfect in the Murrysville Swim Club’s pool.

“The only issue is the chlorine in the water,” Gerano said. “We’ll need to bathe our gear shortly after we get out, so the chlorine doesn’t affect any of the equipment.”

The demo is almost an extension of Medic One’s recent open house, where Gerano and others opened the doors to their new garage and invited the public to see some of the tools they use while saving lives in the area.

The team’s profile has been boosted in the last two years through its participation in relatively high-profile searches, including for Dylan Knopsnider of Connellsville, who died after falling into Jacobs Creek in June 2018, and for Unity woman Cassandra Gross, who went missing in April 2018.

“We’ve had some interest in the dive team,” Gerano said. “We’ve gotten some questions from the community about some of the specialty equipment.”

On June 28, that equipment will be in action at 7 p.m. at the Murrysville Swim Club, 3518 North Hills Road in Murrysville. For more about the dive team, see www.MurrysvilleMedicOne.org.

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