RESCUE: Emergency Services Detail
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

Emergency Services Detail deputy, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Photo from LASD Special Operations Bureau.

With a few modifications, wording below is provided by LASD Special Operations Bureau.

The Emergency Services Detail (ESD) is the unit of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department tactical paramedics and rescue/recovery specialists. The detail’s members are special weapons team members and are trained/certified in the following areas: SWAT/Tactical Operations, Rural/Mountain Rescue, Ocean/Swift Water Rescue, Helicopter-Based Rescue, and Public Safety Diving. Additionally, each member is a licensed paramedic/certified tactical medic and is able to deliver advanced life support care in any austere environment SEB deploys in. ESD also maintains cadres with advanced expertise involving instructor level certifications, in the mentioned skill set, to train its own members and those from outside agencies. Advanced specialized training involves Combat Medical, Combat Technical Rescue, Confined Space Rescue/Recovery, Tactical HAZMAT, and advanced underwater recovery operations. ESD also functions as a FEMA asset and has been called on numerous times to offer its expertise and services in California and across the nation involving natural disasters. ESD members have extensive tactical experience and can only be selected after serving with the Special Weapons Teams. Training to be an ESD deputy takes approximately 18 months to become operational.

The Emergency Services Detail (ESD):

• Conducts searches, rescues, and recoveries, including mountain and maritime operations;
• Provides 24-hour law enforcement paramedic availability and services, including coverage for the special weapons teams and Canine Services Detail during all high-risk operations;
• Administers and provides instructors for the Department’s Public Safety Diver Course;
• Provides tactical emergency medical services support for the Department and other law enforcement agencies within Los Angeles County;
• Provides specialized special weapons team tactical medical training for SEB personnel and outside agencies;
• Maintains law enforcement and rescue patrol capabilities in the Angeles National Forest and the Santa Monica mountains;
• Maintains law enforcement and rescue patrol capabilities in the waters surrounding and between Catalina, San Clemente Island, and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including staffing of the ocean rescue patrol boat;
• Provides crew staffing for the department’s Air Rescue helicopter, which is available to respond to rescues, active shooter events, and other emergencies countywide;
• Conducts investigations of all scuba-related fatalities and accidents in the County’s jurisdiction;
• Conducts evidence recovery for Department units and state and federal agencies in underwater and inaccessible terrain areas; and
• Maintains a jumper response team to assist the Crisis Negotiations Team (CNT) with appropriate safety tethering when negotiating with suspects on elevated platforms, such as roof tops and highway overpasses. The Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) jumper response team will also act as an arrest team working in coordination with CNT and station units. SED deputies may augment this team.

ESD is authorized to have an underwater diving team.

Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department - Special Operations Bureau