When he was a broke college student, studying to be an Oceanographer, Mark jumped at the opportunity to take a scuba class offered to his class. Double hose regulators had been replaced by single hose regulators but BCs and 80cf cylinders were still on the way. And back then, an octopus was a marine creature – no one had an extra second stage. Within months of completion he had already logged over 100 dives and within a year was working on his Dive Master rating.
At his request, Mark accompanied a friend who was applying to be a municipal firefighter. To pass the time, Mark filled out an application as well. 35 years later, Mark retired from the Beaumont Fire Department.
Mark was a member of the department dive team for the majority of his career and served in every position possible on the team. In an effort to continue to grow and develop in the scuba world, Mark became an instructor and eventually became an Instructor Trainer. As a result of his experiences in the fire service, a member of the dive team and passion for scuba, Mark combined it all into what has become PSDiver Magazine. The magazine mission is to provide an unbiased source of news, articles, features and information to Public Safety Divers and Underwater Crime Scene Investigators.
PSDiver Magazine has been referred to as ‘the voice’ of public safety diving. With over 100 issues published, PSDiver Magazine is the only information source of its kind. The magazine is supported by sponsor / advertisers and is offered as a free subscription and can be had at PSDiver.com. It and all the other resources located at www.PSDiver.com are offered at no charge.
Today, Mark has developed a massive database of Public Safety Diving Fatalities as well as a water related fatality database for Public Safety Officers or Individuals serving the public who died in a water related incident. Mark has partnered with Buck Buchanan and together they have developed the PSDiver SURVIVAL Workshop. The workshop is designed to teach an individual diver a variety of skills and techniques to overcome panic underwater and work to overcome a potentially life threatening event.
Though now retired, Mark holds both his ERDI and SDI Instructor ratings and is a member of the SDI / ERDI International Training Advisory Panel. He still teaches a bit, speaks at events and continues to write for and publish PSDiver Magazine as well as training programs and independent articles related to Public Safety Diving.
