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Subject 27's Experience

Staff Sgt Aaron B. – YRP - Marine Unit

Aaron grew up on boats. His father had a boat, so growing up he spent a lot of time boating on Georgian Bay in Penetang, ON. Later, when he met his wife, her father lives on the water, so in the summertime, they spent a lot of time on a cottage-sized lake. Aaron himself has always owned his own boat; from the time he turned 17 years old.

On the professional side, Aaron is the officer in charge of the York Regional Police Marine Unit. They look after underwater recovery and within their fleet they have four vessels, two PWC’s and a number of small inflatables for inland bodies of water. The Underwater Recovery Team is one of only six dive teams across Ontario specializing in recovering evidence and investigating possible deaths in the region's waterways. The team, made up of 12 specially trained members, has deployed in waters ranging from the depths of Lake Simcoe to the sewer systems of Markham.

Watch Staff Sgt Aaron B. go through the experiences below.

Pre-Interview
Stand-Up Paddleboard
Fishing Boat
Cold Water Tank
Warm Water Tank
Post-Interview

In his role with the marine unit, Aaron responds to many accidental immersion call outs, and he would say the number one thing is the shock factor, “As it’s going to be a shock when you fall in.” He states, “There could be a number of different things that happen when you go over. You could ingest water. You could panic, and when you’re panicking, you’re usually breathing faster, which eliminates your lung capacity, which eliminates or decreases your buoyancy.”

In addition, “These are people that have not spent their life growing up around water. They’re going out into areas that they’re unfamiliar with. They have no local knowledge. They are going out trying to enjoy the water, and they just don’t know the potential danger that they’re in.”

Another big issue he states is, “Unless you’re on some type of vessel with a swim platform, it’s very difficult for people to pull themselves back into the boat. If they’re in a 12-foot tin boat, they’re likely not going out in the big water. But the problem is, the tin boat is probably the hardest thing to get back into. You know, as you’re reaching up, trying to pull yourself over that free board, it’s difficult.”

“Unless you're on some type of vessel with a swim platform, it's very difficult for people to pull themselves back into the boat.”

Aaron thought the Virtual Reality (VR) experiences were probably as realistic as you can get in a controlled environment, because even though he knew he was going to go over at some point, the fact that he didn’t know when, he was surprised. “There is the shock of going over, and you don’t have a lot of time to formulate any type of thought or to steady yourself before going into the water.”

“There is the shock of going over, and you don’t have a lot of time to formulate any type of thought or to steady yourself before going into the water.”

Aaron compared the shock of the dunk tanks to being similar to sitting on a boat on a hot day, in June or early July weather on Lake Simcoe, when you're hot and then the sudden shock factor of going over into the cold water. “There’s that moment where it takes your breath away. It takes you a couple of extra seconds to try to compose yourself and be able to control your breathing. And I think that that's probably the most dangerous part of going into cold water, you hyperventilate, you lose buoyancy. And without a lifejacket to hold your head up, you just don’t know what can happen.”

“I think that that's probably the most dangerous part of going into cold water, you hyperventilate, you lose buoyancy. And without a lifejacket to hold your head up, you just don’t know what can happen.”