Rescue Videos "That Others May Live"
David is a former Search and Rescue (SAR) Instructor and has participated in hundreds of missions to include, air operations, body recovery, search, cave rescue, mine rescue, vehicle extrication, vertical rescue, trench rescue, and fire support. Some of his key deployments include Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Alabama, Thailand, Burma and Japan after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
David is a former Instructor for Dive Rescue International (DRI) Public Safety SCUBA Instructor (PSSI). He has worked with federal dive teams and has also instructed foreign Special Operations Helicopter pilots in water egress and operations. He served as the Vice President of the Rapid City Dive Team and as an operational diver performed many body recoveries. It was in the ice covered and fast water environments where many of David's critical experiences were forged. He has recovered bodies under the ice, in deep water and in black water (zero visibility). He has recovered people under the water and ice from airplane crashes, automobiles, recreational vehicles and even animals.
Deep Water Aircraft and Body Recovery Mission
This is a short story of a very dangerous mission to recover the bodies of two men and an Aircraft in the mountains of Wyoming in a cold and icy November. Instructors from Dive Rescue International were called from around the country to this small town where a plane had crashed while attempting to land on the lake. David Burnell was one of the Instructors called and performed one of the recoveries. This is his story. www.davidburnell.com
Body Recovery Under the Ice
Leaving no one behind is such a powerful topic, especially when we risk the living for the presumed dead. This is a true story of a Dive Rescue Team recovering the body of a young man who went through the ice in a dune buggy in a black water lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota on an icy spring day.
Japan Earthquake Tsunami Recovery Mission
David went to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami to help the people of Japan. He packed his gear, steadied his feet and bought a plane ticket and simply went to Tokyo in an attempt to help. The 747 wide body flight to Tokyo was virtually empty and there was lots of time to think and rest before the mission would become a gritty reality. This is an inside look into the work to assist thousands of missing and dead after the devastating and earthquake and tsunami.
Alabama Tornado Search & Rescue Mission
David went to Alabama to help with Search & Rescue efforts after the record tornado(s) that hit the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas. Many small towns were wiped away and the path of this EF4 tornado left an 80 mile long and 3 mile wide swath. It hit at 200MPH and was one of the most costly tornados in history.
Search for a 3 year old Abducted Child in HAITI
Gangs, rescue, medical aid, bodyguards, abduction, evil, heartwarming children, angles and demons. This is a true story that is about two special operations veterans that went to Haiti after the brutal earthquake in 2010 to protect doctors and nurses in what was then the largest natural disaster in recorded history. On top of protecting the doctors and nurses, they were asked to find an abducted Haitian three year old American boy who had been ransomed after being taken from a church meeting on a Sunday. This is the gritty real world story of that mission in a first hand account from David Burnell who was the Chief of Security for the largest volunteer Task Force to go to the beleaguered island and help.