The Central Indiana Public Safety Dive School held its Dive Class 19 graduation ceremony at the Indianapolis War Memorial on Thursday. The intense six-week course was broken up into three two-week phases. Instructors from Noblesville Fire Department (NFD), Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD), Fishers Fire Department, Fishers Police Department, and Danville Fire Department were led by IFD Dive Commander Jerry Richert.
Engineer David Venegoni and Firefighter/Paramedic Seth Jones are now certified Public Safety Divers and will be available to respond on calls for the Noblesville Dive Team. (Photo provided)
This nationally-renowned course is considered one of the toughest trainings available to public safety personnel. Due to the mentally and physically grueling nature of the course, only 70 percent of the students who began in July graduated last night.
Dive Commander/Battalion Chief John Snethen said, “We are very pleased to be a part of the Central Indiana Public Safety Dive School. This class will be the standard for training new NFD divers going forward. I would like to thank the current members of the NFD dive team, all of whom helped out with the course. Without their help, this class would not have been a success. The requirements of this course will ensure the NFD Dive team continues to provide excellent service to the citizens of Noblesville and the surrounding areas.”
Two members of NFD graduated – Engineer David Venegoni and Firefighter/Paramedic Seth Jones. During the ceremony, three awards were presented. Clayton Ellis from the Indianapolis Fire Department took home the JC Smith Top Diver. Erik Baynard from the IFD won the Paul Jolliff Excellence in Training award. Venegoni from the NFD received the Gary Henry Peer Respect and Appreciation award.
Noblesville Fire Chief Greg Wyant said, “We are extremely proud of David and Seth and all of their dedication to this class. This is one of the premier dive classes in the Midwest. Further, I would like to commend our Dive Commander at NFD, Battalion Chief John Snethen, and the other coordinators and divers who worked hard to put this all together. You should all be very proud.”