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If the idea of swimming in Cook Inlet this time of year isn't chilling enough, imagine first flying out over the water and then leaping from a moving helicopter.

That's how part of the Nikiski Fire Department's Dive Squad spent their Saturday.

A five-person dive crew made six jumps over the course of three hours, according to Nikiski Fire Chief James Baisden.

Baisden said Chevron donated a helicopter for the exercise and picked up the tab for the expenses of operating and piloting the aircraft.

The department's rescue boat as well as a boat from Cook Inlet Spill Response and Prevention were both on hand to oversee that everything went smoothly and that the divers made it back to dry land after their jumps.

The drill was conducted about 100 yards past the Offshore Systems-Kenai dock in Nikiski.

Baisden said the chopper would fly out at 10 knots, about 10 feet over the water.

One of the dive squad members would make a leap and plunge into the water below.

The divers were retrieved by the department's rescue boat, and brought back to shore, where they were driven back to the landing site for pick-up.

"If you get that many dives in, then when you have the real thing it's built into memory and you don't have to think about it," Baisden said.

The drill was meant to simulate how the department would respond if there were a downed aircraft or sinking boat in the inlet.

In either scenario, divers would likely be the first on the scene.

Gregory Hyatt, battalion chief with the department, said in such a case the team would fly out and assess the situation.

If the divers decided they needed to make a jump they would first push an eight person self-inflating raft out and dive in after it.

With the raft deployed, the divers would be responsible for getting any victims out of the water and into the raft while additional resources, such as a rescue boat or nearby platform tender, were dispatched.

Getting victims into raft could be a matter of life or death.

"The survivability of being in the water is maybe a few hours with a survival suit on," Hyatt said. "But more likely only a few minutes without one."

The department covers a wide range of ground and water that includes the inlet and part of the West Side.

Hyatt said in the past the dive squad has responded to emergencies involving both aircraft and distressed vessels.

This has been one of the first drills of this nature in a while, according to Hyatt.

Liability issues became a problem in recent years and the crews had to forgo the helicopter in their training exercises.

Both Baisden and Hyatt were glad to have one on Saturday.

Within the next two weeks a similar drill is planned in Island Lake for the other members of the nine-person squad that didn't get to participate this past weekend.

This time they'll also use rafts and have "victims" in the water.

Hyatt said they didn't use rafts this weekend as the company that repackages them after they've been deployed won't do so if they've been opened in salt water. Freshwater is OK though.

Dante Petri can be reached at dante.petri@peninsulaclarion.com .