Diver left behind - Florida

[Akimbo]

This discussion got me thinking more about that roll-call app. What if a mugshot were also taken when each roll-call were made? That would provide documentation that everyone was aboard including time-stamped evidence.

Personally, I believe that anyone conducting a roll-call does their best to be accurate — captain or crew. They know someone could die and they would have to live with that the rest of their life. People can make mistakes no matter how diligent they are. The challenge is to design an app that helps them without making them complacent or reliant enough to suspend thinking… as in the case of identical twins or two young ladies with the same name.

 

[AdivingBel]

One of the OPs I use regularly for daytrips in the Keys issues a number tag when you pay pre-dive. The roll call consists of a count off (everybody shuts up and calls out their number in order) before we leave the dock and then after each dive. At the end of the day they come around and give you a tiki bar coupon as they collect the tags. You are also told at the outset if you lose the tag you'll be charged $5. I'm sure it's not a novel idea, but it's low-tech and seems to work. I'm sure it can easily be circumvented, but folks seem to take it seriously 'cause nobody WANTS to be left behind.

 

[ReefGuy]

DAN has a very simple and effective method of ensuring divers are all back aboard the boat: https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/files/DIDS_Application.pdf

I can't believe that more charters haven't adopted this or something similar. I could make my own for under $2.

 

[Akimbo]

The DAN DIDS system has been mentioned in other threads. I am especially impressed that, at least at the time of this post, they were giving it away.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/404220-charter-boat-diver-roll-call.html

 

[Wookie]

I just can't imagine anything simpler than what I do. I look every diver in the face and ask if they are OK. If I get Barry when I'm looking for Harry, they correct me. Apps and tags and calling a roll just shift responsibility from the Captain to someone else. If the Captain is willing to abdicate his responsibility, great, hope it all goes well. But at the end of the day, when a diver is missing, only one person will be held accountable.

 

[Akimbo]

I just can't imagine anything simpler than what I do. I look every diver in the face and ask if they are OK...

I concur, but you still need a written list of names to check off unless you have a spectacular memory. All of these things would only augment or improve the list and possibly the check-off process. The half-day boats I have seen use a hastily hand-scrawled list by necessity. People sometimes show up without reservations and pay on the spot while others are no-shows making pre-printed lists confusing.

 

[KathyV]

DAN has a very simple and effective method of ensuring divers are all back aboard the boat: https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/files/DIDS_Application.pdf

I can't believe that more charters haven't adopted this or something similar. I could make my own for under $2.

The DAN DIDS system has been mentioned in other threads. I am especially impressed that, at least at the time of this post, they were giving it away.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/404220-charter-boat-diver-roll-call.html

I have experienced the simple, cheap, low-tech "tag method" (or a facsimile) being used on some liveaboards and I think it is a good idea, all the time, not just on liveaboards.

---------- Post added March 16th, 2015 at 01:49 PM ----------

I think that the concept of being "left at sea" is the stuff of nightmares. I have mentioned before that recently we came up at the mooring site after a dive on Cayman Brac only to find that the mooring line had broken and the boat was gone. Happily, the Reef Divers divemaster in the water and the divemaster on the boat both handled the situation well and everybody was shepherded to the new mooring site "safe and sound" and all were accounted for.

My husband and I are just "sissy warm water OW vacation divers" but I can think of 2 other instances in my dive experience when this has been an issue.

One was when we were diving from a liveaboard in the Sea of Cortez and the conditions were rough due to recent storms. The procedure was to do drift dives and then deploy your safety sausages on the surface at the end of your dive so that a panga (inflatable chase boat) could be dispatched to retrieve you.

After one dive, when we were safely back on board (along with most of the other divers) the divemaster did a roll call and realized he was missing 2 divers. The boat started cruising in the direction of the current looking for the missing divers. Everyone on board was hanging over the railings trying to spot them. At last someone saw the pair vigorously waving their safety sausages. They had traveled well beyond the range of most of the other divers. They were safely retrieved and "all was well" and they had a good story to tell on the top deck that night. I am certain that no one called the Mexican Coast Guard (perhaps that is not SOP in Mexico?) but happily it was a "near miss" and no one was harmed. I hope that someone learned something useful from it.

The other instance was less dangerous but it happened to me. We were diving in the Red Sea on a liveaboard but we were close to the Sharm el Sheik harbor during this particular dive. Conditions were calm and easy and we were near the shore. All of the dives were drift (chase boat) dives - not because the current - but because there are so many dive boats in the area that it is easier to keep the mother boat moored and use small boats to retrieve divers.

This was long ago, back when I was using my Oceanic Omega regulator and sucking down a tank of air faster than any of the other divers (wow, do I regret that equipment decision!) I was running low on air and signaled to my husband/buddy that I was going up. He watched me get to the surface and give the "ok" sign and signal for a pick-up and then he continued with the dive group - as was our practice on that trip.

On the surface I could see my pick-up boat but the crew were too busy watching some dancing girls in bikinis on a yacht moored in the harbor to pay any attention to me. I deployed my safety sausage to get their attention, it didn't work. I shouted and waved - nothing happened - the girls kept dancing and the guys kept watching.

Finally, I climbed out and stood on top of the reef (it was just under the surface - usually I avoid touching the coral but I was getting desperate). Then I took off one of my fins and waved and shouted. Eventually one of them noticed me and they came to get me. I was in no danger but it made me think about being lost at sea all alone and nobody paying attention as I wildly waved and shouted for help. Very scary scenario. I don't think that there is such a thing as overreacting or "being too cautious". JMO

 

[boulderjohn]

Just to get back to the original story....

I have used this operation many times and dived off of that specific boat many times. They actually have three captains who work on different days. The last time I dived with them (just over a week ago), all three were on board. One was serving as captain, one was serving as a crew member, and the third was just diving for fun. After every dive, the captain calls the roll, and they don't move until verifying that everyone is on board. They have two DMs on board to assist with the diving operations. I have never seen them be anything but perfectly professional in their operation.

What about the "turning around" part of the report? There is a simple explanation.

As their explanation said, it was the second dive of the day, which is a drift dive. The divers divide into groups however they wish, and each group has a dive flag on a float. One of the two DMs will lead a dive pulling a flag, and anyone who wants to can be in that group. The rest can group up as they wish. The rule on those dives is that the diver with the flag is never lost, and it is the responsibility of all other divers in that group to stay with the person holding the flag line. As the dive flags float on the surface, the boat follows them and then picks up the divers as they surface next to their flags.

In this case, the diver surfaced early away from the flag. If I had to guess as to why, I would say that the diver got separated from the group and decided to follow the lost buddy procedure and surface. It can happen, and for that reason, I always carry my own DSMB and spool. That way if I get separated, I can deploy the DSMB immediately, while I am still close enough to the dive flag for the boat crew to see it pop up as they watch the flags. This apparently did not happen, and no one saw the diver's head pop up. That means that they would have been surprised when the dive group came up without one member. That means the guy would have been drifting for quite a while by then. It could have been 40 minutes. There is no way they could have known the diver was missing during this time, unless the rest of the group had followed proper lost diver procedures and surfaced when they could not find that member of the group. That procedure is normally part of the dive briefing on that boat.

From what I read, the boat crew handled the situation very well. I cannot think what they could have done differently.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have experienced the simple, cheap, low-tech "tag method" (or a facsimile) being used on some liveaboards and I think it is a good idea, all the time, not just on liveaboards.

---------- Post added March 16th, 2015 at 01:49 PM ----------

I think that the concept of being "left at sea" is the stuff of nightmares. I have mentioned before that recently we came up at the mooring site after a dive on Cayman Brac only to find that the mooring line had broken and the boat was gone. Happily, the Reef Divers divemaster in the water and the divemaster on the boat both handled the situation well and everybody was shepherded to the new mooring site "safe and sound" and all were accounted for.

My husband and I are just "sissy warm water OW vacation divers" but I can think of 2 other instances in my dive experience when this has been an issue.

One was when we were diving from a liveaboard in the Sea of Cortez and the conditions were rough due to recent storms. The procedure was to do drift dives and then deploy your safety sausages on the surface at the end of your dive so that a panga (inflatable chase boat) could be dispatched to retrieve you.

After one dive, when we were safely back on board (along with most of the other divers) the divemaster did a roll call and realized he was missing 2 divers. The boat started cruising in the direction of the current looking for the missing divers. Everyone on board was hanging over the railings trying to spot them. At last someone saw the pair vigorously waving their safety sausages. They had traveled well beyond the range of most of the other divers. They were safely retrieved and "all was well" and they had a good story to tell on the top deck that night. I am certain that no one called the Mexican Coast Guard (perhaps that is not SOP in Mexico?) but happily it was a "near miss" and no one was harmed. I hope that someone learned something useful from it.

The other instance was less dangerous but it happened to me. We were diving in the Red Sea on a liveaboard but we were close to the Sharm el Sheik harbor during this particular dive. Conditions were calm and easy and we were near the shore. All of the dives were drift (chase boat) dives - not because the current - but because there are so many dive boats in the area that it is easier to keep the mother boat moored and use small boats to retrieve divers.

This was long ago, back when I was using my Oceanic Omega regulator and sucking down a tank of air faster than any of the other divers (wow, do I regret that equipment decision!) I was running low on air and signaled to my husband/buddy that I was going up. He watched me get to the surface and give the "ok" sign and signal for a pick-up and then he continued with the dive group - as was our practice on that trip.

On the surface I could see my pick-up boat but the crew were too busy watching some dancing girls in bikinis on a yacht moored in the harbor to pay any attention to me. I deployed my safety sausage to get their attention, it didn't work. I shouted and waved - nothing happened - the girls kept dancing and the guys kept watching.

Finally, I climbed out and stood on top of the reef (it was just under the surface - usually I avoid touching the coral but I was getting desperate). Then I took off one of my fins and waved and shouted. Eventually one of them noticed me and they came to get me. I was in no danger but it made me think about being lost at sea all alone and nobody paying attention as I wildly waved and shouted for help. Very scary scenario. I don't think that there is such a thing as overreacting or "being too cautious". JMO

Standing on the coral and waiving because the crew is distracted IS "overreating" It does sound very scary.

 

[Akimbo]

Standing on the coral and waiving because the crew is distracted IS "overreating" It does sound very scary.

That depends on how long the Bikini-clad dancing girls enjoy the attention. She could be on that reef a very long time.