PSD Solo Diving

[james croft]

Do any of your agencies policies and procedures allow solo diving (with or without a solo c-card) on the job?

 

[Gary D.]

Do any of your agencies policies and procedures allow solo diving (with or without a solo c-card) on the job?

Not my my watch.

Gary D.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Solo PSD = Oxymoron

 

[Gary D.]

Not my my watch.

Gary D.

OOps, should have been "Not ON my watch".

Gary D.

 

[rmediver2002]

It would depend on your definition of solo diving:

Having one diver in the water at a time, line tended to the surface with another diver dressed out and standing by in the event of an emergency?

 

[Gary D.]

It would depend on your definition of solo diving:

Having one diver in the water at a time, line tended to the surface with another diver dressed out and standing by in the event of an emergency?

I'm not taking that as "Solo".

Being a cowboy with just one diver on scene is what I think he was refering to.

Gary D.

 

[resqsqurt]

Absolutely no cowboy diving with only one diver on the scene...

Our policies state one diver in the water with a line going to a trained line tender. We have one back-up diver in the water standing by completely ready except the reg which is about 4" or so from his/her mouth and a 90% diver also standing by to become the backup should the backup need to enter the water.

If conditions allow and we have a large search area and enough trained personnel on the scene, we can run more than one evolution provided the divers stay far enough apart to avoid entanglement of their lines.

Hope this helps...Let me know if you have any other questions about our policies.

 

[rmediver2002]

Just making sure Gary.

Resqsqurt, I am curious about the reasoning behind having your standby diver waiting in the water? Seems like it would get cold with your water temperatures up there.

Does the dressed out standby rotate into the water for the next dive?

Jeff

 

[Under H2O]

Just making sure Gary.

Resqsqurt, I am curious about the reasoning behind having your standby diver waiting in the water? Seems like it would get cold with your water temperatures up there.

Does the dressed out standby rotate into the water for the next dive?

Jeff

Jeff,

I know you addressed this to Resqsqurt, but since we're on the same PSD Team here in Winston-Salem and play by the same rules, I'll chime in...

The reasoning behind having the safety diver waiting in the water is because he/she must respond instantly should there be a problem with the primary diver. Most of the time we're working in ponds/lakes with no real easy entry points, so getting a fully suited and geared-up diver from land into the water can be quite an arduous task.

The safety diver is suited up with the assumption that he/she WILL be making a dive, therefore he/she will be insulated properly and shouldn't get any colder than the primary diver. Consequently, when diving in the warmer months, having the safety diver in the water helps them from becoming overheated too quickly.

Provided that the safety diver is physically and mentally ready to take on the role of the primary diver on a subsequent search evolution, he/she may do so. But, we have a "Golden Rule" on our team: If a diver doesn't feel comfortable diving, for any reason whatsoever, he/she doesn't dive. No questions asked, no penalizations.

Hope this answers your questions...

--Gerry