Checklists: If surgical teams don't comply, what hope do divers have?

[GJC]

It's great that you are focused on safety, but that seems excessive. And the problem with excessive is that people are much more likely to just forget about it after a while.

I'm a surgeon - this is a similar problem in the OR.

It works for me. I don't use it as a call out and response checklist. I just go down the list before jumping in to see if I missed anything.

 

[wnissen]

I have developed my own checklist, I’m a checklist kinda guy. It’s not perfect but it’s better than BWRAF.

Air - analyzed, marked, MOD, valves open, breathe each reg and watch spg
Buoyancy - inflate, oral inflate, operate dumps, weights on, check releases
Communication - hand signals, light signals, slate or wet notes
Dive Plan - objective, route, max depth, max time, turn pressure, rock bottom
Emergency Procedures - lost buddy, OOG, entanglement, DSMB deployment
And last is a reminder that anyone can call the dive at any time for any reason.

I actually use going through this mentally as a relaxation exercise so I have it engrained. People I dive with, including instabbuddies go along without problems. I’ve had two instabuddies ask me to write it out for them after the dive was done. I also had a few give me a weird look but no one has not accommodated me.

That is a very nice mnemonic. Way better than BWRAF, which is so awkward I thought my instructor was putting me on at first. May I suggest, "'F'inally a reminder..." If buddy checks were as easy as ABC, maybe more people will do them.

 

[happy-diver]

For decades my tools and dive gear lived in the car with adjustments made the night before if required.
Didn't want to go home for forgotten stuff so didn't forget anything.

These days the tools lay dormant, and the dive gear lives on a table next to the car, or in the car.

So when the table is empty the gear must be in the car

Here's a picture of the gear on the table

Here's another picture of the gear on the table

Here's your list, know your stuff

Sing it into your brain like Samuel L





TWO SACKS, A PONY, A BC, AND A BOTTLE, DAH NAH NAH NAH NAH!!!

Sack with fins, mask inside foot pocket dah nah nah nah nah!!!

Sack with 2 regs and a bottle of water dah nah nah nah nah!!!

Pony with 50% inside dah nah nah nah nah!!!

Bc with bc type stuff in it and hanging off it dah nah nah nah nah!!!

Bottle with 21 something inside it dah nah nah nah nah!!!

or two bottles with 21% something inside dah nah nah nah nah!!!


Yeah the Samuel L singing method for 20 years watch the movie look it up get it in ya


On the boat or bench assemble your gear or put it on turn it on and go

Diving Not listing

 

[ofg-1]

Look, if a surgeon forgets something, he isn't the one with a Timex left in his stomach, or has the wrong kidney removed, or forgets which leg to operate on. A pilot understands if they miss something, their ass is in the plane when Issac Newton takes over, and it meets the earth somewhere. Same idea with divers.

 

[doctormike]

Look, if a surgeon forgets something, he isn't the one with a Timex left in his stomach, or has the wrong kidney removed, or forgets which leg to operate on. A pilot understands if they miss something, their ass is in the plane when Issac Newton takes over, and it meets the earth somewhere. Same idea with divers.

Yeah, my cousin was a commercial pilot. I once asked him if it was hard having 300 people's lives in his hands. He said "Hey, I'm worried about MY life. If those people want to come along for the ride, that's up to them!"

 

[Manatee Diver]

Yeah, my cousin was a commercial pilot. I once asked him if it was hard having 300 people's lives in his hands. He said "Hey, I'm worried about MY life. If those people want to come along for the ride, that's up to them!"

That is why the rules for airplanes flying over the ocean are joking called "Engines Turn Or Pilots Swim," not passengers swim.

 

[taimen]

Two, I'm mostly hoping to change rebreather culture by getting people to adopt a very simple pre-jump checklist, which is done while you are in your unit, and which should pick up common errors like those in the recent tragedy in Hawaii.

This is a very unit specific question related to JJ-CCR. How do you perform your sticker checklist yourself? You say it is done while you are in your unit. Do you pull out both SPGs prior to every dive while already in the unit or how (and when) do you check tanks and SPGs?
For those who are not familiar with the JJ: The SPG hoses are stuffed into pockets in the wing and they are quite difficult to put back after you pull them out while in the unit. Checking SPGs during the dive is not that essential in rebreathers, they are mostly an emergency problem solving tool underwater. Thus this configuration is not as stupid as it may sound for an open circuit diver.

 

[W W Meixner]

Folks...

I've read all the posts on this subject as well as re-reading and editing my own...

Most seem to be overthinking this subject and a lot are getting mired in checklist requirements for industries and purposes that have absolutely nothing to do with scuba diving...

Dumb it down...

whether it's a formal checklist prepared by others...long short or whatever...whether its a checklist prepared by yourself for your own specific purposes...it does not matter...

Divers that prefer checklists for their own purposes will use them wherever the document originated from...and divers that choose not to use checklists...again for reasons that seem justified to them will go on their merry way...

There are no ''Checklist Police'' lurking in the reeds or patrolling the decks of dive boats...

All of my dive related checklists...which include the...grocery list...the lodging list...the gear to pack list...the suitcase list...the ''kit preparation list''...etc...etc...were all prepared by ME...for...ME...

I do things that suit me...most people do...some with a lot of detail...some with no detail...

When you can't please everyone...you gotta please yourself...

Dive Safe...

Warren

 

[doctormike]

This is a very unit specific question related to JJ-CCR. How do you perform your sticker checklist yourself? You say it is done while you are in your unit. Do you pull out both SPGs prior to every dive while already in the unit or how (and when) do you check tanks and SPGs?
For those who are not familiar with the JJ: The SPG hoses are stuffed into pockets in the wing and they are quite difficult to put back after you pull them out while in the unit. Checking SPGs during the dive is not that essential in rebreathers, they are mostly an emergency problem solving tool underwater. Thus this configuration is not as stupid as it may sound for an open circuit diver.

Very easy to check the SPGs on the JJ while in the unit. You really don't need to pull them out to check them, although you have that option if you have a lot of bulky gear on your side during a dive (scooters, bailout tanks, etc..). You just grab them, flex them out a bit and glance down - I never have a problem with that.

The JJ is incredibly well designed and thought out. Although you certainly CAN route the SPGs to the front of the harness (like on a rEvo), that defeats the purpose of the design. You almost never look at them during a dive, so why clutter up the front of your unit where you have other gear to clip off? There are no pockets, the SPGs are just tethered to the wing with little velcro straps. I actually find those straps to be the only weak point on the JJ, so the one mod that I did was to replace them with little bungee loops off the backplate, but the routing is the same.

For OC divers reading this, you might be surprised at how many CCR divers don't worry too much about being able to check their SPGs. In fact, some people just put button gauges on the tanks and only check that they are full when building the unit or just before putting it on. I never look at them during a dive other than during a boom drill or real boom (gas leak). You can make a case that there is no scenario where that information is crucial (a bit beyond the scope of this discussion). You only need dil for descent (leaving aside up and down cave dive profiles), and you either have enough O2 or you don't. If you have been so situationally unaware that you are starting a dive without enough O2, eventually you will not be able to hold a setpoint, and you would have to bail out. But if you can't be trusted to always know your PO2, then you can't be trusted to check an SPG either...

 

[Manatee Diver]

Just a stab at an OC recreational pre-jump check:
F - Fins - On
A - Air - Steady pressure (Breath while checking SPG)
R - Releases - Secure & Free (Make all clips are secured, and dump valves are free)
M - Mask - On

I don't dive dry suit so I am unsure of where to add that. Just making something in the vein of a pre-landing GUMPS check, based on what I check before I jump in.