How bad was this?

[Eric Sedletzky]

In one of the most important lawsuits in scuba history, because of its impact on current policies, a man named Dan Carlock was somehow missed on the roll call after the first of 3 scheduled dives, and the boat left while he was still in the water. "Drifting Dan," as he became known, was eventually picked up safely by another boat, with his original boat never missing him throughout the entire day. No harm done, right? The total judgment in the resulting lawsuit was well into the millions. After that, roll calls started to be taken a lot more seriously. It is also why most liability waivers now have you sign off that you know the professionals running your dive are not agents of their certifying agencies and are not acting under their direction. (The lawsuit included PADI, claiming that because the DM calling the roll had been certified by PADI, he was an agent of PADI. PADI lost $2 million, IIRC.)

As I remember he was missed twice on roll calls. They didn’t realize until after the second spot that he was gone.
Many tried to blame Dan that he ignored orders to stay within The structure and come up within the structure. He apparently had really bad situational awareness and drifted out like they told him not to. He came up in thick fog and could not see the platform. He made no noise by yelling and didn’t have any sort of noise making device.
A total epic fail all the way around.
The biggest fail IMO was the DM and sloppy roll call procedures. There will always be idiot divers, but at the professional level (the DM) that type of incompetence is completely unacceptable.
I think the boat was spared because the DM was from the shop that chartered the boat.

 

[boulderjohn]

The biggest fail IMO was the DM and sloppy roll call procedures. There will always be idiot divers, but at the professional level (the DM) that type of incompetence is completely unacceptable.

There is more to it than this--some have called this case one of the worst defended cases in scuba court history. I have talked directly with people involved in the litigation and other experts and gotten conflicting stories. Here is what I have sorted out from what I was told.

The DMs who called the roll were not employees of the boat operator. They were unpaid members of the club that chartered the boat. Under maritime law (I am not sure what to call it--not an expert myself), calling the roll is the duty of the captain. It might be handed off (not sure of that) to a crew member, but it cannot be handed off to anyone outside the crew. Thus, the DMs who called the roll should not have been doing that, meaning the blame would fall fully on the boat captain. PADI was prepared to make that argument in court, but at the last second they were precluded from doing so because of what can only be described as a monumental blunder. I know the details, but I will avoid them here because it is an unnecessary side trip that will stir things that don't have to be stirred.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

There is more to it than this--some have called this case one of the worst defended cases in scuba court history. I have talked directly with people involved in the litigation and other experts and gotten conflicting stories. Here is what I have sorted out from what I was told.

The DMs who called the roll were not employees of the boat operator. They were unpaid members of the club that chartered the boat. Under maritime law (I am not sure what to call it--not an expert myself), calling the roll is the duty of the captain. It might be handed off (not sure of that) to a crew member, but it cannot be handed off to anyone outside the crew. Thus, the DMs who called the roll should not have been doing that, meaning the blame would fall fully on the boat captain. PADI was prepared to make that argument in court, but at the last second they were precluded from doing so because of what can only be described as a monumental blunder. I know the details, but I will avoid them here because it is an unnecessary side trip that will stir things that don't have to be stirred.

You’re probably more right than I am, that case was a long time ago now and my memory is somewhat vague on all the intricacies. I do remember very long threads on the various message boards.
I thought it would change a lot of stuff regarding roll call procedures but apparently not.

 

[boulderjohn]

I thought it would change a lot of stuff regarding roll call procedures but apparently not.

It did change procedures, but things slip, memories fade, and new people arrive who were not involved with the change. Things revert to the old norm.

A boat on which I did many a dive for many years was absolutely anal about roll call procedures. It was the captain who called the roll every time, regardless of which of their captains was in charge, and it was done carefully. I never saw anything otherwise. Then I heard an interesting story. They were out on the ocean with a small group of regular customers, people who were familiar with the boat, the crew, and the procedures. Things evidently got a little lax, because they were half way back on the intracoastal waterway when they realized they had left someone behind. They completely blew away all intracoastal speed limits as they turned, raced back to the sea, and (fortunately) found a good natured customer who was not in a suing mood.

 

[Esprise Me]

OP, I hope you'll follow up and let us know what the dive op says in response. I know you don't want to get the DM in trouble, but IMO getting in minor trouble now (perhaps just a reprimand, but even if it leads to her being fired) is a lot better than getting in much bigger trouble later if someone dies because of her recklessness.

 

[boulderjohn]

OP, I hope you'll follow up and let us know what the dive op says in response. I know you don't want to get the DM in trouble, but IMO getting in minor trouble now (perhaps just a reprimand, but even if it leads to her being fired) is a lot better than getting in much bigger trouble later if someone dies because of her recklessness.

I have no idea how the manager of the operation would react, but if it were I you contacted, I would look first at the system problem that allowed it to happen and then at the training problem that allowed it to happen. Only if normal system procedures and training were not followed would there be repercussions.

 

[boulderjohn]

I have no idea how the manager of the operation would react, but if it were I you contacted, I would look first at the system problem that allowed it to happen and then at the training problem that allowed it to happen. Only if normal system procedures and training were not followed would there be repercussions.

BTW, I spent some time in charge of internal audits back when our large school district was involved with ISO 9000. That is standard thinking for ISO. If your system is well designed and people properly trained to use it, then you should not have problems like this. If an employee screws up in a well designed system, you first inclination is to look at the training procedures.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

One of the suggestions as I remember was to count everybody in as they boarded the boat with military precision. First the boat is thoroughly checked before official permission is given to board including the heads for anyone that may have slipped by unseen. Second, as people board they are checked off a manifest one by one so they know exactly who is on board. Third, as they jump off the boat there is a person at the gate checking off that they jumped in with name or number noted. Reverse order when reboarding. Final roll call. If anyone comes up missing the entire boat is checked including heads and bunks to find them. All people must be physically seen to be accounted for, not just vouched for by another person.

 

[Telvar]

The outfit I dive with, always has a dive leader. You report to him/her before and after entering the water and your tank pressure is recorded, as well as your max depth. The dive leader always knows who is in the water, who is the buddy and how much air you had going in. This may look a little overdone (in general, diving rules are fairly strictly adhered to in Holland), but this sort of **** cant happen then.

btw if you go diving after puking, make sure you rehydrate. It makes for safer diving and feeling better afterwards.

As for the rest, I can only agree with all which was already said.

 

[Belzelbub]

It's also routine to let seasick divers spend the surface interval in the water hanging on a life ring tied to the boat. Seems to mitigate the effects for some people.

Quite true. I’ve been on the water most of my life. As such, I don’t often get seasick. I did on a certification dive trip in the Keys. Seas were just right where I was not feeling well. This was after our first dive. We were the first group in, and first up. Tried sitting on the cabin top so I could clearly see the horizon. When that didn’t work, I jumped back in the water and hung on the line. That worked almost immediately.

BTW, I spent some time in charge of internal audits back when our large school district was involved with ISO 9000. That is standard thinking for ISO. If your system is well designed and people properly trained to use it, then you should not have problems like this. If an employee screws up in a well designed system, you first inclination is to look at the training procedures.

Bringing back memories when I was in Quality and dealt with numerous ISO standards (ISO 9001, AS 9100, & ISO 13485). The better auditors would key in on documented corrective actions where the solution did not address the system cause. Even if there is a training gap, there is often a system gap that allowed the training gap to lead to the failure.

In the case of the OP. Definitely call the owner and see what he says. This should never happen. The diver manifest should have been verified before leaving the dock. Missing or extra divers should be verified at that time to be sure the extra divers have paid, signed waivers, and been verified. Discrepancies should be corrected on the manifest and all copies on the boat.

OP, you have a couple options to make yourself more self sufficient. The PLB has been mentioned, and is a good option, especially if diving in remote areas. PLB will be monitored by SARSAT and relayed to the appropriate agency. When diving in more popular areas, a handheld VHF with GPS and DSC is a good option. While on the boat, ask the Captain what VHF channels are monitored. In the US, it should be 16 and a non-emergency channel. Set your VHF to that non-emergency channel. Then, if you surface and don’t see the boat, you can first try to raise them on the non-emergency channel. If that doesn’t work, switch to 16 and call for help. 16 will be monitored by USCG and other boats in the area. Pressing the DSC button would be the next option. This will send a coded message with a unique identifier and GPS location. This will be received by USCG and other boats with DSC radios on. If those other boats are properly connected to a chart plotter, the location will also appear on their GPS screen. VHF may result in a quicker pick up by a Good Samaritan boat, and you would also have confirmation that your signal was received.

I have a 1st gen Nautilus Lifeline that I use as the VHF. Unfortunately, current Lifelines do not have voice communication. When necessary, I will replace with another handheld with DSC and take it with me in a waterproof case.