Photo courtesy of Johnson County Metro Dive Team social media.

This weekend, the Johnson County Metro Dive Team is training at the Coralville Lake. Saturday and Sunday, they plan to credential four additional divers as Emergency Response Divers International (ERDI) Level 1 Public Safety Divers.

The Emergency Response Diving Course is designed to give the certified open water divers and certified public safety divers additional skills needed to function safely as part of an OSHA and NFPA compliant dive team. The dive team, which currently consists of 12 divers and 15 members, is a mix of volunteer and career members.

While they primarily serve the Johnson and Linn County areas, they are available as a mutual aid resource statewide. Formed in 2012, the team has responded to calls for underwater recoveries in Benton, Black Hawk, Delaware, Iowa, Linn, Louisa, Johnson, Poweshiek, Wapello, and Washington Counties.

Team members come from the Coralville Police and Fire Departments, Iowa City Police and Fire Departments, Iowa State Patrol Post 11, University Heights Police Department, University of Iowa Department of Public Safety Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Johnson County Emergency Management, Johnson County Ambulance Service, and the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.