Summer is a fun season to hangout on the river with friends for a day of relaxation in the sun, but sometimes in fast moving waters, things can turn ugly fast.

“A call comes out, and we respond to Tiscornia Park with an elapse time of about 10 minutes, said Michael VanCamp, president of DART, the Drowning Accident Rescue Team. “We get on scene and our Swift Water Team enters the water and starts a hasty search in the area that bystanders said they ‘thought’ was the area.”

Concurrently, VanCamp finds the person that actually saw the missing person. This took him about two to three minutes to locate the witness. The elapsed time is now approximately 18-20 minutes, he said.

“I perform the ‘Show Me’ portion of the interview and learn the location that the Swift Water Team was searching was off by about 30 degrees, VanCamp said. “Once the Swift Water Team adjusts the search area, they found the man within moments.  The team brought him up and to the shore. Once at the shore Fire/AMR took him. They started CPR and transported him to the hospital.”

This is just one example of many heroic efforts DART performs when they get a call about a possible drowning.

DART is a non-profit, all volunteer organization whose mission is to save lives and recover property from various lakes and waterways. They respond to all water related issues within Sacramento County as well as all areas touching Sacramento County.

“We’ve responded as north as Clear Lake and south down past Stockton,” VanCamp said. “During the summer season, we have a large amount of calls to Tiscornia Park, by Discovery Park, and up the American River.”

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