Exercise from the Gendarmerie Underwater Search and Rescue Team

The Underwater Search and Rescue Team, the apple of the gendarmerie’s eye, is at the forefront of searching for lost cases and criminal cases in places such as lakes, rivers and dams. The team, which has superior physical strength, is on duty 24/7. The Underwater Search and Rescue Team within the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command consists of 7 personnel.

The team, equipped with high-tech equipment, performed a drill at a dam in Çekmeköy, Istanbul. According to the scenario, the Gendarmerie Underwater Search and Rescue team, who received notice that a gun used in a judicial incident was thrown into the dam, made preparations and went to the dam. The team then removed the gun from the dam. Explaining how the Underwater Search and Rescue personnel were selected, Gendarmerie Senior Sergeant Ömerli Uğurlu Istanbul Team Commander said, “Gendarmerie General Command requires its personnel to be commandos and personnel who receive frogman reports from authorized hospitals. After passing the written exam and sports test, those who successfully complete the frogman basic course are entitled to work in underwater teams. Frogmen serving in Underwater Search and Rescue Teams take the crime scene diving course, motorized rubber boat driving course, fast boat driving course, summer mountaineering and winter mountaineering course, helicopter jump collection expertise course, first aid course and lifesaving courses and use today’s technology. “and it develops itself in line with its needs,” he said.

Stating that they carried out search and rescue activities up to a depth of 40 meters, Uğurlu said, “Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command Underwater Search and Rescue Team Command, which was established in 2012, works with diver personnel in Istanbul, as well as in Kırklareli, Edirne, Tekirdağ, Çanakkale, Bursa, İzmit, Sakarya, Bilecik and Düzce. Search and rescue activities up to a depth of 40 meters for those who are lost in the waters within the responsibility area of ​​10 provinces and seek help, and disappearances of people in floods and floods. In addition to these events; “It is responsible for finding bodies lost in dark and dirty waters with no visibility under high altitude ice, seas, running waters, dams, lakes, ponds and puddles, and criminal elements and evidence thrown into such places,” he said.

Stating that there are 7 ranked personnel in the team in Istanbul, Uğurlu said, “There is an underwater search and rescue team within the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command. There are 7 ranked personnel in the team staff. In addition, there is a search and rescue vehicle used in these activities and 3 surface search and rescue boats of different sizes and engine powers depending on the nature of the task. “Upon receiving notice that the gun used in a forensic incident was thrown into the dam lake by a suspicious person, the gun will be found, removed from underwater using appropriate methods without losing any traces, and handed over to the judicial authorities.”