Article: Don't Worry - It Will Be OK

[antattack]

Super valuable story that puts our training in context. Part of every divers training includes the right to thumb a dive- even before anyone gets wet. It's probably the most important diving skill, and it's the only one I've never seen tested in an OW class. Something to think about.

Maybe we should start including a requirement for OW classes. Every student has to thumb a dive before or during a dive. Instructors can set up thumbable scenarios. Once a student thumbs a dive and corrects the thumbable detail, they have thumbing a dive checked off as a skill.

It might create some challenges for instructors if all the students try to clear the Thumbing requirement on the first dive... But it could be made to be a manageable requirement. I'll bring this up to my shop.

 

[nimoh]

Super valuable story that puts our training in context. Part of every divers training includes the right to thumb a dive- even before anyone gets wet. It's probably the most important diving skill, and it's the only one I've never seen tested in an OW class. Something to think about.

Maybe we should start including a requirement for OW classes. Every student has to thumb a dive before or during a dive. Instructors can set up thumbable scenarios. Once a student thumbs a dive and corrects the thumbable detail, they have thumbing a dive checked off as a skill.

It might create some challenges for instructors if all the students try to clear the Thumbing requirement on the first dive... But it could be made to be a manageable requirement. I'll bring this up to my shop.

that's not a bad idea.

So, would you have a dive briefing for an OW dive that stated something like a max depth of 140', and wait for them to thumb the dive, or give a proper briefing, and have them come up with a reason to thumb it?

 

[RonFrank]

I never understand why new divers or inexperienced divers are paired together. I often dive with new divers even if it means a threesome as new divers make for poor buddies. Having an experienced buddy boosts confidence and makes the dive less stressful.

This was a sad story but I guessed that when I saw the article.

 

[ams511]

The problem I see with the article is that such situations are all too common. I remember when I first moved to Miami and a local dive shop tried to get me on a trip to the Spiegle Grove. I asked them if they had anything easier because I had not been diving in over a year. The sales person tried to convince me to go saying as an AOW I was qualified for the dive. (My AOL deep dive was to a cement mixer at the bottom of a quarry. Sure it was cold, dark, and miserable but there is also no current and no waves.) Anyway I said no and never went back to that store again. Perhaps we need to add saying no to ignorant salespersons as part of a diver's skill set.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Bob and Julie,

First, my condolence to Julie for the loss of Jennifer. This is terribly tragic, and unnecessary.

Now, let me do a bit more analyses. As has been stated, pairing two inexperienced divers together is a not good; it can lead to both having problems, which indeed happened. Before I do that, I will put an accident model down that was developed by a Safety Professional named Dan Peterson. This analysis will come in sections, as ScubaBoard has a tendency of loosing text if you go away too long, so be patient.

Peterson, Dan, Ph.D., P.E., CSP, "Human Error, A closer look at Safety's next frontier", Professional Safety Magazine, December 2003, www.asse.org.

If you look at this flow diagram, there are many areas which are impacted by this accident. Let's look at them one at a time:

Management, sets vision, has values, makes decisions

In this case, it appears that this boat was undermanned. It had a captain, and no one else supervising the dives. There was an instructor, but that individual was preoccupied with his/her students. There appears not to have been a Divemaster on board. So far as the vision and values, it appears that the only vision was to make money for the boat.

which creates a culture

What kind of culture was aboard this boat. Was it truly a safety culture? I don't think so. It appears that it was a boat that carried the divers to the water to dive, and maybe assisted them getting out of the water. That's all.

in which processes/systems/programs work or fail

It appears that there was no actual system or process to ensure the safety of the divers on this boat. A good Divemaster would have picked up on Jennifer's reservations. Once expressed, that should be a red flag. There was no system to ensure that inexperienced divers were not paired up with each other either. These were systems failures on the management of the boat/dive shop.

Organizationwide

Look at the list on the left of this diagram. "Responsibilities defined", "Authorities clear", "Accountability tight"...I don't see anything resembling these for this boat.

SOPs in place! Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are vital in an emergency. Banging on a ladder to get people back on board may be an emergency procedure, but I did not see that it was briefed at all.

Training adequate! Neither diver was adequately trained for this dive.

Priorities clear, and teamwork established--how can you have teamwork without a team?

Positive reinforcement? Dan Peterson is referring to reinforcing safe procedures. The culture on this boat was to reinforce unsafe procedures so the boat could gain another diver.

Open communications; communications was a problem, and apparently was not discussed in the pre-dive briefing.

Law compliance is a minimal standard.

The risks were not assessed at all.

I'll have more on the Specific causes in the flow diagram later tonight; it's time to break for supper.

John C. Ratliff (SeaRat), CSP, CIH, MSPH
John is a Certified Safety Professional, Certified Industrial Hygienist, and has his Master of Science in Public Health, with an emphasis on safety and industrial hygiene. John is also an ex-NAUI instructor (#2710), ex-USAF Pararescueman, and has been actively diving since 1959. He writes regularly on the Vintage Equipment portion of ScubaBoard.

 

[JamesK]

Thank you Julie for sharing this story. I can not even begin to imagine how hard it is to tell. Bob thank you for your excellent work in helping put this tragedy to paper.

Julie the courage you have shown is simply amazing. To not only take up the hobby that took the life of your daughter, but to also go back to the same sight is simply remarkable. While I do to know you, and can make no judgement of your personality, I can tell that you are a very strong woman.

 

[timakempton]

I believe this article should be compulsory reading for all divers, but especially student divers Dive Masters and Instructors. It is my intention to print it off and keep it for distribution to all divers I meet. I am soon to do a refresher course after some years away from the water and I will be giving a copy to my instructor and suggesting he distribute it to all his students from now on. I think we owe it to Julie to makes sure the lessons contained in the article are learned by all so that Jennifer's death saves other lives and that she did not die in vain.

 

[drrich2]

Sometimes in a bureaucratic society one can practically choke on analytical 'tools,' but I've been wonder if some sort of tool to aid dive assessment and give a rough global difficulty level might be of use to some newbies looking to 'rate' the difficulty of a dive. Factors could include:

1.) Shore dive or Boat Dive (shore diving with good viz. & minimal current, you're unlikely to be lost at sea, but in Bonaire you've got iron shore & rubble to deal with & could twist an ankle). Boat dives from higher than usual over the water, or requiring negative entry (hit the water & sink), or requiring divers to quickly grab a line & work their way back to a descent line to avoid getting swept away in current, or shore dives where only a narrow channel is suitable & navigation back to a precise site matters, these add to difficulty.

2.) Viz. - Poor (under 15 feet), Fair (15 - 25 feet), Good (25 - 50 feet), Very Good (50 - 100 Feet), Excellent (> 100 Feet).

3.) Current - Negligible, Minor, Modest, Fairly Strong, Strong.

4.) Temp. - Warm/Tropical (75+), Cool (70 - 74), Cold (Under 70), Very Cold (get out dry suits).

5.) Supervision Level - No Guide (like some California charters), Dive Guide ('herd leader' but not providing supervision), Dive Master (watching divers for signs of difficulty with intent to intervene).

6.) Depth - Shallow (under 45'), Moderate (45 - 60), Deep (60 -100), Very Deep (100 - 130).

7.) Buddy - Dive Professional, Seasoned Diver, Fair Diver, fellow Newbie.

8.) Gear - My own I'm used to, Rental gear similar to what I'm used to, Rental gear somewhat different (e.g.: weight belt when I'm used to integrated, wet suit when I've never worn one), or Rental gear a poor match (e.g. uncomfortably bad fit, not working well, very different - e.g.: BCD too small, first time in a BP/W, etc...).

9.) Environmental Familiarity - Conditions I've dove before (e.g.: tropical coral reef) vs. new (first ocean dive) or pressing my limits (e.g.: first true deep dive on an AOW or Deep specialty course) vs. well past prior experience (e.g.: 130 foot Blue Hole dive when I've never been over 60!).

On a Point Scale, grade from 0 to 5 in escalating difficulty.

So, a Blue Hole 130 feet dive might be tropical, great viz., guided with some supervision, I'm guessing minimal current but very deep. Perhaps that'd add up to 4 or 5 points.

A local quarry dive, easy shore entry, cold below the 2'nd thermocline but you don't have to go that deep, fair viz., no current, no guide or supervision, might be 4 or 5 points for different reasons.

A Bonaire shore dive at an easy site could be unguided with minor entry hassle so perhaps 3 or 4 points.

Granted, from a seasoned diver's perspective, this is reductionist/oversimplistic, but it might help a newbie grasp the factors a seasoned diver considers in sizing up a dive's hazard potential, and what weight different factors bear.

Think about putting all that in some kind of table with rows & columns, maybe some pretty colors, decide how what numbers to rate factor levels (are 15 foot viz. & 80 foot depth of equal weight?), and give some total number ranges for, say, 'easy,' 'fairly easy,' 'moderate,' 'modestly strenuous,' difficulty,' 'taxing,' 'get additional training before attempting,' etc...

Maybe make it a downloadable/printable single-page form, maybe even log book sized & hole punch marks for logbooks?

Brainstorming here, and maybe there are already versions of this idea in use - I don't know.

Richard.

 

[aquaregia]

Of course, location dependent. I've never seen viz better than "fair" or temperature better than "get out your drysuits" up here in NorCal

 

[drrich2]

Diver familiarity with conditions plays a role. I've got over a hundred dives, but I've never dove the conditions of North California, and would be at a serious disadvantage trying it without some hand-holding guidance, whereas a recently graduated OW student with a dozen dives there would be much more competent with those conditions.

Richard.