Could have been much worse.

[RandomGuy1]

Thank you for the detailed response Devon. To address a few of my shortcomings:

1.Goal: We really didn’t know much about the dive site other than it was a spring, this was to just be a fun dive where we get in and swim around and look at the rock formations. I’m not sure where we could have established a clearer goal here with the limited knowledge we had. This speaks to our failure on the "Environment". Our main goal was to blow bubbles.

2.Unified Team: None of us are deco trained, and all planned a 15-20 safety stop. Not exactly what GUE trains, but pretty standard for recreational open water training. The team leader was a leader in the sense of he was navigating. I guess in this sense I was team leader since I was leading the pre-dive, and the person I nominated as team leader was really just the navigator.

3. Equipment check: If something would have been found on the equipment check, the issue would be corrected or dive would be aborted. I did a standard head to toe equipment check as no special equipment was required for the dive.

4. Exposure: We could have been more specific here setting a specific time at depth. Gas planning would be in “G” section of the pre-dive.

5. Deco: We did discuss a max bottom time of 50 minutes, but the plan was basically to fly our computers since it was a multi-level dive at an unknown site. At least that was the plan for me. It wasn’t explicitly discussed in the pre-dive. None of the other issues were particular relevant to this dive, but good points to consider.

6. Gas: If pressure checks reveal deficiency in gas, dive would have been postponed to change out tanks. I had calculated my rock bottom. I did know the rough SAC estimates for both other divers, but we did not calculate their rock bottom. This should have been done better. While we didn’t discuss previous to this particular dive, at the beginning of the trip we did discuss that there was o2 available in our vehicle. Emergency deco would have to be done on back gas, but our dive plan did not include going anywhere near deco, so it wasn’t discussed.

7. Environment: Yep, we blew this one big time.

 

[DevonDiver]

2.Unified Team: None of us are deco trained, and all planned a 15-20 safety stop. Not exactly what GUE trains, but pretty standard for recreational open water training. The team leader was a leader in the sense of he was navigating. I guess in this sense I was team leader since I was leading the pre-dive, and the person I nominated as team leader was really just the navigator.

You'd agreed a lost diver/split team protocol... so that was good.

More detail could have included:

Formation diving helps team cohesion. Arrowhead, inverted arrowhead, line abreast, line astern... they can be used judiciously depending on the environment.

If team is split, there can be additional protocols. For instance, it's easier to relocate if trailing diver/s go static and the leader/navigator conducts a back-track search.

3. Equipment check: If something would have been found on the equipment check, the issue would be corrected or dive would be aborted. I did a standard head to toe equipment check as no special equipment was required for the dive.

Wasn't it? Based on assumptions...or contingency thinking.... or what you actually encountered?

So... nothing would have changed if the team all carried lights? What if they'd carried reels...and laid a guideline once it'd been determined that visibility was a threat to team cohesion?

You got out from the overhand... but what if you'd gotten disorientated or turned-around and the back-kick hadn't worked? What if the other diver was wrong and there were more substantial overheads... that you could have worked yourself deeper into? Would a safety spool have helped ensure success, rather than luck? (admittedly... if you're not overhead trained... you might not consider this).

Any other equipment that you might have benefited from having? As an individual or a team?

5. Deco: We did discuss a max bottom time of 50 minutes, but the plan was basically to fly our computers since it was a multi-level dive at an unknown site. At least that was the plan for me. It wasn’t explicitly discussed in the pre-dive. None of the other issues were particular relevant to this dive, but good points to consider.

Kinda what I mean by 'lip service' or 'box ticking' to the checklist. GUE EDGE expects a specific mode and detail of planning. If that's not done... then it's not GUE EDGE... it's just a pointless acronym used for it's own sake... not safety sake.

Goal: Let's go diving
Unified Team: You, me and him. He's leader, but I am leader, but he's navigating... or something
Equipment check: Nothing special, but the stuff we have works.
Exposure: Let's find out when we get there.
Deco: We'll wing it and fly our computers.
Gas: There's no "I" in team, but there is in "I'm ok, You guys... not so much".
Environment: We assume it'll be benign. If it turns out not to be benign, we'll pretend it's benign anyway. No re-plan needed.​

No criticism intended... just to raise thinking points..

The point being that in principle the GUE EDGE, or whatever agency acronym you use, should mitigate issues if used diligently and thoroughly. If used superficially, then it won't succeed in it's task. It just becomes hot air. A glamorous nothing. That's why things were able to go wrong.

I get a feeling that there was significant complacency. "There was an open water lesson on the site".... and if those mainstream-agency noobs can dive there, then it must be a doodle... and I'm GUE trained... so it's well within my league... easy-peasy stuff... so no need to actually employ my GUE training as I was taught.

The Open Water students probably were safer... because, for sure, their leader/instructor was being very diligent in his supervision under those conditions... and he'd briefed the students in every detail... knew the site explicitly...and had a dozen contingencies planned up his sleeve.

You get my drift....

You let that open water class...and other factors... sway your mindset...

If training is not applied... all you've got is a fancy card in your wallet....and some glamorous nothing acronyms.... neither of which stops things going wrong.

 

[RandomGuy1]

You'd agreed a lost diver/split team protocol... so that was good.

More detail could have included:

Formation diving helps team cohesion. Arrowhead, inverted arrowhead, line abreast, line astern... they can be used judiciously depending on the environment.

If team is split, there can be additional protocols. For instance, it's easier to relocate if trailing diver/s go static and the leader/navigator conducts a back-track search.



Wasn't it? Based on assumptions...or contingency thinking.... or what you actually encountered?

So... nothing would have changed if the team all carried lights? What if they'd carried reels...and laid a guideline once it'd been determined that visibility was a threat to team cohesion?

You got out from the overhand... but what if you'd gotten disorientated or turned-around and the back-kick hadn't worked? What if the other diver was wrong and there were more substantial overheads... that you could have worked yourself deeper into? Would a safety spool have helped ensure success, rather than luck? (admittedly... if you're not overhead trained... you might not consider this).

Any other equipment that you might have benefited from having? As an individual or a team?



Kinda what I mean by 'lip service' or 'box ticking' to the checklist. GUE EDGE expects a specific mode and detail of planning. If that's not done... then it's not GUE EDGE... it's just a pointless acronym used for it's own sake... not safety sake.

Goal: Let's go diving
Unified Team: You, me and him. He's leader, but I am leader, but he's navigating... or something
Equipment check: Nothing special, but the stuff we have works.
Exposure: Let's find out when we get there.
Deco: We'll wing it and fly our computers.
Gas: There's no "I" in team, but there is in "I'm ok, You guys... not so much".
Environment: We assume it'll be benign. If it turns out not to be benign, we'll pretend it's benign anyway. No re-plan needed.​

No criticism intended... just to raise thinking points..

The point being that in principle the GUE EDGE, or whatever agency acronym you use, should mitigate issues if used diligently and thoroughly. If used superficially, then it won't succeed in it's task. It just becomes hot air. A glamorous nothing. That's why things ere able to go wrong.

I agree with everything you said. The problem boils down to the dive we did, did not equal the dive we briefed. We briefed a simple open water dive, but we ended up in a silted out overhead environment. We actually didn't cover the lost buddy protocol in the pre-dive, but everyone fell back to their training. That is another failure on my part. I also made assumptions about the dive based on limited knowledge, and those assumptions turned out to be false. At the time I honestly didn't even feel like I was making assumptions, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. I think for me that is the biggest lesson learned from all this.

I absolutely got lucky getting out from the overhead as quickly as I did. I normally carry a spool and dsmb on ocean dives, but had forgone it because we were diving in a spring and I "didn't need it". Once again my assumptions and reality did not match.

On the Gas check, it actually would be "you guys will be okay, but me... not so much" as I calculated my gas reserves to get myself and 1 teammate to the surface, but did not calculate for them to have to take me to the surface.

 

[DevonDiver]

The problem boils down to the dive we did, did not equal the dive we briefed.

Hence contingencies are required... in the planning stage.

As you learned, this is especially true in unknown sites.

Local knowledge was insufficient/incorrect.... and some risk management was overlooked on the basis that if an open water class was diving the site, then there must be no significant issues to address.

Just a question... but would your team have approached the dive differently, at all, if the site was empty?

 

[RandomGuy1]

Honestly, it probably would not have made a difference had the classes not been there, at least not for me. Maybe one of my teammates would have called the dive, but I doubt it. I think them being there just reinforced the preconceived notion that I had that the site was safe.

 

[DevonDiver]

Ok.... understood. As you might guess... I'm quite interested in human/psychological factors. I was wondering if, in your case, there was any abdication of prudent risk management based on other divers activities on the site.... especially if the divers were considerably more novice than yourself.

It's quite common for dive sites to be labelled as 'novice' or 'advanced' etc... or trips to be for 'beginners' or restricted to 'experienced' divers. I've been thinking about how this can effect diver complacency.

 

[RandomGuy1]

I think overconfidence was a major contributing factor, back that up with incomplete site data and you have a recipe for disaster. I am honestly glad this happened in the way that it did, as I will be much quicker to call a dive in the future.

 

[Lake Hickory Scuba]

Diver # 2's Point Of View

This is probably the most difficult response I have posted here on Scuba Board. Difficult because as a Dive Professional, I feel I hold a certain level of credibility which I must maintain, because diving is my livelihood. As Diver # 3 stated above, this was the end of our vacation, and we decided to make one last dive. This whole weekend redundancy seemed to be a mutual theme we all shared. Though I primarily used a single 100 cf steel cylinder, I always backed it up with a 30 cf pony system. For the ones that know me, know that I would consider myself well beyond advanced, even in extreme conditions (I currently teach for 5 different training agencies and hold a Course Director title along with 2 Instructor Trainer titles). Overhead environments and blacked out conditions is normal for me. As a Public Safety Diving Instructor and active Public Safety Diver, blacked out conditions is a day in day out variable that I'm used to. As an Ice Diving Instructor and active Ice Diver, having a canopy over my head is nothing new. Owning a Dive Shop that seconds as an Under Water Salvage Company, diving in less than favorable conditions is a normal thing. With all this being said, no matter how much training and experience one has, the most important thing outside of breathing, is for a diver not to PANIC. I do not intend on retelling the story that Diver # 3 published, I plan to show you first hand. This dive was recorded on video as you are about to watch. This is from my point of view. As stated by Diver # 3 our pre-dive safety check should have been the end of the dive. Whether or not this jeopardizes my credibility as a diving professional, as an Instructor I feel obligated to publish this and hope that it helps others not make the same mistake. Being adequately prepared, meaning having the appropriate equipment and even being mature enough to call a dive can be the difference between life and death. This dive should have been called during the pre-dive safety check, but over confidence led to a bad situation. A situation that I thank the Big Guy upstairs for getting me out of. I truly hope others learn from my mistakes. We as Diving Instructors are not Diving Gods, and we need to remember that we are role models. We are held to that higher standard. Never should we dive beyond our capabilities or certifications. And even if you hold hundreds of certifications, and even if you are experienced, sometimes you should just say NO, and abort. I hope this thread continues on for a very long time, and I hope it sparks conversations between thousands of divers. We should never let complacency dictate the way we dive. This dive is not something I want my legacy to be about, but if it helps save one life then it is something I am willing to live with. To all who read this and watch this video, understand the situation I found myself in was 100% unintentional. The environmental conditions led me into an overhead environment, without proper gear (my fault along), inadequate air supply, and pushed me to the verge of PANIC. Between prayers to get me back to the surface safely and thoughts of apology to my wife and child, I maintained my mental capacity long enough to free myself from my predicament. As you will see in the video, I swam into an overhead environment (CAVERN on a normal day)(but CAVE on this day, due to lack of ambient light from the surface). I became lodged temporarily within the limestone and had to find my way out simply by remaining calm and crawling along the canopy following the bubbles I just exhaled. At the first sign of ambient light, I became so very thankful I had to take several minutes to reflect and not bolt to the surface. After an extended safety stop, I met up with the other 2 divers, stuck my tail between my legs and headed home. My embarrassment of getting myself into a situation that I preached to others not to do, I pray will help save the life of many divers in the future.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I have to say I already love this post without even seeing the video.

*edit That was scary. I'd be a gonner except for the fact that I get very scared in low vis and would have thumbed it very early on. thanks for posting for a newbie like me.

 

[Storker]

Whether or not this jeopardizes my credibility as a diving professional, as an Instructor I feel obligated to publish this and hope that it helps others not make the same mistake.

Just MHO, but by writing this post and honestly admitting that you made a grave mistake you make me want to sign up with you for a class at any time. I'm a lot more scared by people who try to present as the infallible expert than those who willingly admit mistakes and bring those along as learning and teaching moments.

I have to say I already love this post without even seeing the video.

Seconded.