We may not have dive simulators but we can simulate dive scenarios mentally and verbally. Well-executed drills have something in common but don't really develop critical decision making or analytical skills the way the vast majority are taught and used. Old harassment dives are probably the closest thing available in diver training to the random emergency drills built-into flight simulators, but they test a very small subset of emergencies because divers are prepared for and expecting them.
I was very lucky to have a SCUBA instructor who was a mechanical engineer in real life and a very analytical guy. I was way too young to drive so my dad would pay for the gas so I could ride with him for the two hours to ocean training dives. Looking back, that time in the car taught me a great deal about diving and planted the seed for critical thinking that served me very well. We would talk about almost everything related to diving. I didn't realize it at the time but he would ask some probing questions and he would guide the discussion to analyze my replies whether right, wrong, or pretty close until we explored dozens of scenarios.
Obviously no structured diving class has the time to do that, even all the ones I took in the Navy years later. However, a similar environment evolved while supporting saturation dives. There was often a Master Diver, Diving Officer, a Hyperbaric Doc, and/or several of the most experienced sat divers in the Navy on watch with me monitoring the divers and the systems. There was tons of time to talk, especially at night -- unlike commercial operations there were only 4 people in sat so bell runs were during daylight hours only.
Mostly to stay awake, someone would ask a "what-if" question and we would bat answers around until we had all learned something. A lot of it was also motivated because sat diving was still pretty new and we were all a little anxious. These discussions evolved into drills that were later incorporated into the operational sat training program this dive system was later used for.
The same thing can be done with any group of two or more divers with time to kill. The best discussions tend to get replayed in the minds of individuals for a long time. They also evolve into discussion topics they share with other groups. It doesn't come close to the learning tool that modern flight simulators have evolved into, but is probably the next best thing.
Interesting Side Note:
Some divers reading this may not know that
Ed Link, the inventor of the flight simulator, was also a significant pioneer in saturation diving and manned submersibles.
Thanks, Jim/oldschoolto
