Accident Incident or emergency

[fsardone]

In a different thread I raised the issue about the difference between Emergency, Incident and Accident, someone raised the Mishap classification of accident done by some services.

Being an non native speaker, I have to defer to those who use the language in their daily life but the use I make is due to the training I have received in my aeronautical career and FEMA Incident Commander training courses while living in USA.

While Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) makes little difference between incident and Emergency (see below) FAA and NASA makes a clear distinction between Emergency and Incidents/accidents and NTSB classify incidents and accidents in term of seriousness of consequences and mandatory reporting.

In my personal view, since (technical) diving is very alike flying in term of planning execution, hostile environment, need of accident analysis and structured decision making it would make sense to adopt the aeronautical language in term of emergencies accident analysis and reporting in order to improve safety records.

Would you agree? If yes why and if not what is the rationale not to. But again I am a non native speaker and I welcome some discussion on the topic.
I did compile below some definition with sources.

Cheers

Fabio


Merriam Webster Dictionary
Emergency: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action
Incident: : an action likely to lead to grave consequences especially in diplomatic matters a serious border incident

: something dependent on or subordinate to something else of greater or principal importance
: an accompanying minor occurrence or condition​

Accident: an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance

: an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance
: law : an unexpected happening causing loss or injury which is not due to any fault or misconduct on the part of the person injured​

From: https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is100b/student manual/01ics100b_sm_october2013.pdf
Emergency: Any incident, whether natural or manmade, that requires responsive action to protect life or property. [...]
Incident: An occurrence or event, natural or manmade, that requires a response to protect life or property. Incidents can, for example, include major disasters, emergencies, terrorist attacks, terrorist threats, civil unrest, wildland and urban fires, floods, hazardous materials spills, nuclear accidents, aircraft accidents, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, tsunamis, war-related disasters, public health and medical emergencies, and other occurrences requiring an emergency response.
No difference here

From NTSB Reporting Requirements | NBAA - National Business Aviation Association
Accidents
In Part 830, the NTSB defines an accident as:

• an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and when all such passengers have disembarked,
• in which any person suffers death or serious injury,
• in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.

Substantial damage means damage or failure which adversely affects the structural strength, performance, or flight characteristics of the aircraft. This type of damage would normally require major repair or replacement of the affected component.
Incidents
The NTSB defines an incident as an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations. While many incidents do not need to be reported to the NTSB, there are serious incidents that must be reported.

From:https://www.faa.gov/regulations_pol...ment_procedures_handbook/media/Appendix_A.pdf
Emergencies
An emergency can be either a distress or urgency condition as defined in the pilot/controller glossary. Distress is defined as a condition of being threatened by serious and/or imminent danger and requiring immediate assistance. Urgency is defined as a condition of being concerned about safety and requiring timely but not immediate assistance; a potential distress condition.

From Emergency or Abnormal Situation - SKYbrary Aviation Safety
An emergency situation is one in which the safety of the aircraft or of persons on board or on the ground is endangered for any reason.
An abnormal situation is one in which it is no longer possiible to continue the flight using normal procedures but the safety of the aircraft or persons on board or on the ground is not in danger.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Interesting topic. I'm a native English speaker from the US (& as a part of my career have been both a writer & editor). Before this discussion, I thought of an...

• Incident as a minor occurrence.
• Emergency as a sudden, unexpected event likely requiring help.
• Accident as an unintentional event that often results in harm.

These seem to match my go-to dictionary (Dictionary.com | Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com).

incident

1. an individual occurrence or event.
2. a distinct piece of action, or an episode, as in a story or play.
3. something that occurs casually in connection with something else.
4. something appertaining or attaching to something else.
5. an occurrence of seemingly minor importance, especially involving nations or factions between which relations are strained and sensitive, that can lead to serious consequences, as an outbreak of hostilities or a war:

emergency

1. a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.
2. a state, especially of need for help or relief, created by some unexpected event:
3. a weather emergency; a financial emergency.

accident

1. an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in harm, injury, damage, or loss; casualty; mishap: automobile accidents.
2. Law. such a happening resulting in injury that is in no way the fault of the injured person for which compensation or indemnity is legally sought.
3. any event that happens unexpectedly, without a deliberate plan or cause.

I'd like to point out that the order in your post above re: incident for Merriam Webster is different than what I see. The 1st answer I see online is "occurring or likely to occur especially as a minor consequence or accompaniment"

It'd be interesting to see how these are defined by the different dive agencies since the most important points to me in this discussion are the dictionary definition & the dive agency definition. The other agencies you mention are interesting, but have no real bearing to me. I am not a technical diver, but any type of diving requires accident analysis and reporting in order to improve safety records.

 

[sea_otter]

Not sure if everyone's definition is consistent, but a cave instructor once told me, "It's an accident if someone dies. It's an incident if they survive."

 

[Rechno]

Quite interesting to read. Especially as a non-native speaker.
To offer another definition for an accident, in an attempt to properly translate it, the German definition:
An accident is a sudden, externally inflicted, occurrence, during which a person involuntarily gets injured or dies and which can be determined in time and place.

There have been discussions, since strictly spoken, most "diving accidents" that happen to a person, due to medical issues, are not externally inflicted and so the term is often inappropriate.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Quite interesting to read. Especially as a non-native speaker.
To offer another definition for an accident, in an attempt to properly translate it, the German definition:
An accident is a sudden, externally inflicted, occurrence, during which a person involuntarily gets injured or dies and which can be determined in time and place.

There have been discussions, since strictly spoken, most "diving accidents" that happen to a person, due to medical issues, are not externally inflicted and so the term is often inappropriate.

That's interesting. What type of dive accidents would not be externally inflicted?

 

[Rechno]

I´m neither lawyer nor physician, so please don´t shoot me if im wrong ;-)

Cardiac problems during a dive would be an example, if they were not somehow explicitly inflicted be external effects.
I think it is pretty much about the interpretation of "externally inflicted". Typical examples would be: "Getting hit by a car (or submarine, for us divers)" or "falling down the stairs" or "system failures" .

So anything that happens to me during a dive, due to system failure would clearly be a sudden, unintended, externaly inflicted event, and thus be an accident.
After reading the definition, I somehow start to wonder if DCS, can be considered an accident, by that definition. The causing bubbles are an internal effect. One could say, that the external source is the decrease of pressure, but this is actually intended by the diver.. alas not with the outcome.

On the other hand, in the German definition it is discriminated between accident and illness, with the distinguishing factor being, that during an accident the harming event is of limited duration. So I wonder if DC I/S would not be the wrong term.

Personally I think the problem I stated is somehow esoteric, since I do use the term "diving accident" more in the "everyday language" way, without thinking if it is correct or not. But the discussion made me think about it.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Ah ha. I don't see DCS or a cardiac event as an accident, but a medical event. I guess I do subscribe to the definition then. How interesting! I wouldn't have thought of this either except for the discussion. I love words. I love diving. And now the two combine here. Cool thread.

 

[fsardone]

Great input especially about "external" cause and illness.

Once an accident or incident happened .... you are in damage control mode ...
But before then would you agree you have an Emergency situation?

Emergency: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action
An emergency situation is one in which the safety [of the diver/team] is endangered for any reason.

Cheers

 

[Rechno]

I would say, that often times an incident (noticed or not) leads to an emergency-situation, which could turn into an accident.
However, as with accidents on surface, there might not be an emergency-situation beforehand.

Just as an example: a diver, getting hit/ stung/ bitten by something, would be victim of an accident per definition.

Just to play around with wording a little bit more..... after there was the above mentioned accident (for diver 1) it might turn into an emergency situation, when diver 2 notices it and now is called to action.

 

[Rechno]

In addition to my post (since I accidently hit the "send button"), I think that the focus with an emergency is the call for immediate action in order to save lives or prevent something dangerous from happening.

So, as bad as it is, an accident with a dead victim, and without danger for others, would not be considered in emergency, from my point of view.