Instructors: Microbubble alarm after CESAs

[rsingler]

I did one as a divemaster, sortof, lol!
At the end of the day, I got assigned the usual s**t job of pulling the float.
I had 600psi left in my tank, and said "plenty!" since we were in 20 ft of water.

Naturally, the screw wouldn't come out of the bottom, and I was huffing and puffing. I saw 200 psi, and said to myself, "I REALLY don't want to swim back out here with a new tank!"

I couldn't get the screw out when I drew my last breath, so I did a "CESA" from 20 feet.

And yes. I swam in, got a new tank, swam out and pulled the da**ed float.

Divemasters: the last legal indentured servants in the Western world.

 

[Akimbo]

Here are some a points of reference:
Commercial divers do a lot of pier inspections which typically involves inspecting and often video recording every piling making literally hundreds of ascents and descents/day in up to 40' of water... usually 20-30'. I am not aware of any reported DCS incidents, but ascents are slower than an emergency ascent. It is also common for divers working in harbors to make quite a few cycles to get tools, clear umbilicals, and discuss the job.

It may also put your mind to rest when you consider that 60'/minute was the standard ascent rate without safety stops for most of my life. On the other hand, those who know me might say "that explains a lot".

Personally, I try to make at least one free ascent (not CESA)/year from 130'+ at 60'/minute; which has been my practice since the mid-1960s. I was trained to do them and it maintains my self-confidence in the water. However, I do limit them to the start of the first dive of the day and descend for a normal dive once completed. My computers have all whined about it, but got over it. I won't dismiss your concern, but I wouldn't loose any sleep either. Bottom line, don't do it anymore if you are concerned. Just make one CESA/day when you want to hone your skills.

 

[Diver0001]

Divemasters: the last legal indentured servants in the Western world.

I think at some point we've all been you...

That said, I'm going to get picky with you. Using the term "indentured servitude" isn't accurate. Indentured servitude implies a debt that cannot easily (if ever) be paid in full. In India, for example, such debt can be passed down through generations, essentially leading to a situation whereby a baby is born into an unpardonable debt..... It is a sort of modern day slavery, and I'm using the word slavery correctly here.... ownership of people.

Divemasters DO have a hierarchically submissive position in a lot of shops. In others, they have a particular "role" (albeit sometimes not a SEXY role) that helps the team function better as a whole. At the shop where I work, DM's have a role to fulfill with respect to logistics -- like hanging up and recovering a buoy -- but they are most certainly not "submissive" when it comes to training divers. Our DM's are very experienced divers and experienced DM's and they are full and fully respected members of the educational team.... I literally couldn't function some of the time without a good DM and they know it.

At the shop where I work nobody gets paid a lot. Of course we are compensated in kind. For example, I probably fill for 1200-1500 Euros a year on Nitrox alone..... but none of us are in this for the money.

The fact is that most of the money that DM's and instructors would normally earn at a normal shop goes into a pot and we enjoy lavish meals at Chinese restaurants together as a team or we all have a barbecue on the beach where a professional chef is hired to do the cooking.... Everyone treated equally because while the roles of DM, Instructor, or CD may differ, the team can only function adequately as a whole. This way we all equally enjoy the benefits of the work we do together.

I know this sounds very foreign to an American but it does wonders for team morale and lowers barriers to helping one another. I haven't been a DM for a long time but I still "DM" (assist) for my colleagues from time to time when it is needed and they do the same for me. This is what we gain by this. Team spirit, willingness to help each other, focus on results.....

As for indentured servitude, if someone decides to walk away we don't (literally) kill them, or their wife, or their child.... that's what happens in *real* cases of indentured servitude.... If someone walks away from our particular "tribe" (and some do) then we hug them, wish them well and hope we will see them again.

R..

 

[rsingler]

Well said, @Diver0001.
That's what I love about SB. It never stays on topic for long. I guess I hijacked my own thread, lol!

 

[blac86]

All bubble models are mathematically broken and all computers that run bubble models alter mathematic constants within the algorithm to construct a simulated profile which doesn't reflect your actual dive but rather has output similar to a zhlc model of the same simulated profile you didn't actually dive.

A bubble warning has the same usefulness as a body power hologram braclet.

 

[Akimbo]

A bubble warning has the same usefulness as a body power hologram braclet.

Good one, I might have to steal that.