How to get my paraplegic buddy back into the boat?

[Tim_in_Qatar]

Hi,
We have a member who is about to return to us from Australia following his rehab after a motorbike accident. He is paprplegic as a result and we have set up a working group in our club to get him back into the swing of things. We don't have a problem on the dry side, we are making plans for the necessary ramps and such for the clubhouse and to get him onto the boat. BUT - how to get him out of the water! We use a RIB, which will be fairly easy - we'll just use his harness and drag him aboard (his instructions!), but we also use a hardboat for the more interesting diving further offshore. This is one of the member's boats and at 36' is not big enough to fit a bespoke lift. I was trying to think of ways of using the anchor windlass as the muscle and some sort of hammock rigged on a line(s) running from fore to aft to raise him to the level of the gunwhale. Other than that it will be parbucling - which isn't very dignified! Any other schemes you might have seen or used?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Walter]

Does the boat have a swim platform?

 

[Gilldiver]

A boson's chair on a powered david should do the trick. See this site for what I am talking about
Pot Pullers

They also make pulling the anchor a lot easier.

Contact the Boston Sea Rovers, they are associated with a club "The Morray Wheels" which is a club made up of disabled divers around Boston Mass. They should be able to answer a lot of your questions.

I tried the Wheels old web page, but it now links to a car rim company, I don't know if the site was hijacked or not, but the Rovers should be able to get you to them.

Boston Sea Rovers

 

[Tim_in_Qatar]

Sadly not - 2 big lumps get in the way (Yamaha 250's!)

 

[Tim_in_Qatar]

Thanks for the tip, will check out the site. My boat already has a davit we use for pulling kit on board (minus diver) but it is only rated to 45KG. As it is there is some stress cracking in the GRP around the socket for the davit.

 

[BrokenT10]

My usual approach is to get to the boat and take off my gear, hand up my tank and BC plus any other gear I'm wearing. Be sure to take off the weight belt, put some air in the dry suit or make sure he has some other bouyance factor, such as the wet suit. Once I'm free from the gear it is easier to move around. I do this for the zodiac type boats also and as there is usually two guys around, they both get in the boat and I put my back to the boat, they grab under my arms and lift me in.
On a larger boat with no swim platform, my suggestion is to wear an extra weight belt with no weight so you have something to grab ahold of. I would pull myself up as far as I can and have some guys drag me over the side. Once they have me over the side I try to turn into a sitting position and from there its a two person carry to the chair.
If you have a ladder for getting into the boat, I have pulled myself up the ladder with my buddy using his arm under my butt for support. Once I get up high enough, someone pulls me in and I turn to a sitting position and get back into the chair. The place I normally dive (Gilboa Quarry, Gilboa, Ohio) uses platforms with stairs, I will take off my gear and then climb the stairs in the sitting position. Once I get to the top, I brace my feet against the railing and pull myself up into a crouch or squatting position and then transfer into the chair. I need to get this all on video someday.
I once walked down a gangplank on my hands while someone walked backwards holding my legs because the gangplank wasn't wide eouhg for my chair. Once I was on the boat, I sat on a bencha dn then got into my chair.
Good luck with the diving. I did some free diving for pearls in Bahrain a few years back. It was a lot of fun.

 

[Tim_in_Qatar]

Thanks for the info. My mate is a real go-getter, all-action type bloke (which is how he had the accident in the first place - went off the wrong face of a big dune on his dirt bike) so he'll manage somehow. If we can make it easier for him it'll increase the enjoyment I hope!

Cheers

Tim

 

[pasley]

Sign up for a class as a Dive Buddy Handicap Scuba Association with a local Handicapped SCUBA Association (HSA) trainer. There are HSA instructors in Australia. There you will lean what you need to know to safely dive with your buddy.

HSA technique for getting your buddy back on the boat. Helper on deck, diver, HSA Dive Buddy
1. remove weights and pass onto boat and then the gear, leaving the regulator in the mouth
2. Helper grasp him under his arms and is prepared to pull
3. HSA Dive buddy descends and grabs diver around the knees, inflates his BC and kicks Hard, this will pop him up.
4. Helper takes rising diver and guides him onto the boat
5. Diver spits out the reg as he comes onto the boat.

Again, taking the training will be a big help. Your dive buddy should also get re-certified by HSA in his new condition to retrain him in diving with this new situation. It is also helpful to have the HSA Dive card as some dive operators are skittish about letting a handicapped diver on if they have not demonstrated their skills post accident.

The dive buddy training is a tough 3 day course that I enjoyed. You will be trained to dive with paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, blind and deaf divers. Good stuff.

 

[medical1]

Sign up for a class as a Dive Buddy Handicap Scuba Association with a local Handicapped SCUBA Association (HSA) trainer. There are HSA instructors in Australia. There you will lean what you need to know to safely dive with your buddy.

HSA technique for getting your buddy back on the boat. Helper on deck, diver, HSA Dive Buddy
1. remove weights and pass onto boat and then the gear, leaving the regulator in the mouth
2. Helper grasp him under his arms and is prepared to pull
3. HSA Dive buddy descends and grabs diver around the knees, inflates his BC and kicks Hard, this will pop him up.
4. Helper takes rising diver and guides him onto the boat
5. Diver spits out the reg as he comes onto the boat.

Again, taking the training will be a big help. Your dive buddy should also get re-certified by HSA in his new condition to retrain him in diving with this new situation. It is also helpful to have the HSA Dive card as some dive operators are skittish about letting a handicapped diver on if they have not demonstrated their skills post accident.

The dive buddy training is a tough 3 day course that I enjoyed. You will be trained to dive with paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, blind and deaf divers. Good stuff.

Take a HSA, IAHD, Adaptive Scuba or the like course. I'm a HSA instructor & getting involved with the SUDS program. The courses teach you how to overcome barriers and is well worth the time

 

[BrokenT10]

My dive buddy and I got ceritfied togther and have been through the AOW, Stress and Rescue and have dove 100+ dives together. He and I have never been through any HSA or IAHD courses. I dont know that much about them and I dont think they are needed if a diver is willing to listen and observe before getting in the water. I tell most of the people I dive with to just stay well back out of the way so I dont knock off your mask, etc with my wing span. The key is to get in the water and dive.
Being adveturous is the key to figuring things out. If you arent afraid to try it a new way or do it differently then it makes things easier. I got hurt when a semi crossed the double yellow line in a corner and drug me back 29 feet the way I came so I know what your mate is going through. I wish him good luck.