Who are we?

 

The Drowning Accident Rescue Team (DART) is a non-profit (501(c)3), all volunteer organization which is funded completely by donations, grants, and fundraiser events.

Our primary mission is to save lives and recover property from the various lakes and waterways in and around Sacramento County. As well as responding to various Northern California jurisdictions. We accomplish this mission through numerous rescue, recovery and prevention activities.

DART is unique in that it was created by divers to perform public safety diving while most other agencies train fire fighters or law enforcement personal how to dive for public safety diving. However most of our members are not divers. Only one fourth of our members actually dive. We need members to perform many other services on an actual call and to help us to always be ready to respond 24/7.

Our volunteers contribute their available time and resources and participate in ongoing training provided by the team and outside rescue agencies.

We have over fifty volunteers coming from all walks of life and have various talents including diving, medical and administrative skills:

  • SCUBA Instructors

  • Dive Masters

  • Open Water Divers

  • Swift Water Rescue Instructors

  • Paramedics

  • Emergency Medical Technicians

  • Firefighters

  • Police Officers

  • Sheriff’s Officers

  • Salvage Divers

  • Engineers

  • Lawyers

  • Bankers

  • Security Guards

  • Pharmacists

  • Realtors

  • Computer Specialists

  • Accountants

  • Contractors

  • Mechanics

  • Delivery Personnel

  • Laboratory Technicians

  • Grocery Clerks

  • Mathematicians

  • Railroad Engineers

  • Retired personnel

  • People just like you…

How is DART activated?

DART members are on call 24 hours a day 365 days a year (366 on leap years). If there is a water related accident we are dispatched by Fire Dispatch via a smartphone app that tell us:

  • What the nature of the accident is: Vehicle in the river, drowning, boat overturned, etc.

  • Whether the call is a rescue or a recovery: Are there suspected victims?

  • Have the victims been submerged for more than an hour?

  • Where the accident occurred: A physical description is given (county, city, river, marina, cross-streets, etc.).

  • A Thomas Brother’s map page and grid.

Board of Directors

Officers:

Jeremy Pollard

President

Zachary Corbo

Vice President

Lorenzo Lopez

Secretary

Cole Glenwright

Treasurer

Mike Kynett

Chief Logistician 

Directors:

Keith McAndrews

David Sanches

Nick Casey

Rich Morgan

 

 

How do the members respond?

If a DART member can respond to a call they select a response option and then go to our dock facility to get a ride in our response rig or they can drive their own vehicle directly to the incident.

What if a member can’t respond?

DART members respond when they can. If a member cannot respond because of a work or personal conflict, then they don’t have to. If the Team Leader reviews the pages and sees that there are insufficient responders, the Team Leader will re-page the incident and request additional members respond.

DART’s History

Would you like to know the History of DART? Visit our page to learn how we got started.