Uncle Pug:
I am speaking more as a diver than as a FF.
I see your thinking Unc. & I have to say no - I'm not advocating taking everything PLUS the kitchen sink to the dive sight. My point in the Firefighting reference was more to do with expecting the unexpected. You & some others here can't fathom when such an air supply might be needed, what with all the participants so well gassed up & competent as to preclude any need. That mind set I cannot fathom.
I'm sure you & the other charter Captains carry Medical O2 / 1st Aid kit / Emergency contigency plans out on every trip. Why do you do this? Because something might happen & you want to be prepared. Well then - why not pack along a m.a.s.h. unit? Build a helipad & take along a huey? Obviously, that much is logistically too much. But you are prepared for emergencies. Would adding a submersible emergency air supply ( S.E.A.S ) be logistically undoable? I think not. Would it be prudent & reasonable to do so? I think so. What I can't understand is this great fear that someone in your carefully screened, well-trained group of permissible participants might stupidly plan to access this air as part of their dive plan, should they decide to stretch things a bit. They don't sound like the type that would - but that fact does not protect them from harms way. So the arguement that it is a danger to your divers doesn't add up.
In the deepsea, I had virtually an unlimited supply of air / gas. Yet I wore a "bailout bottle" on my back as an emergency gas source. Why? Because despite all our redundancies / safety systems / standby divers etc., I might find myself in a position one day where I need that reserve on my back to survive. And why not? It is easy to carry, easy to access, non-restricting ( for the most part ) - so we use it. If a S.E.A.S. was logistically unreasonable to provide ( like a m.a.s.h. unit would be ), I could understand your reticence to use one. And all this talk about coming off lines, going up the wrong line yada yada, as a means of showing how useless the supply would be...c'mon folks! No one said it was the perfect catch-all solution. Twenty regs. - one for each diver...puhlease!
No, I think this has more to do with a certain degree of mis-guided self-confidence in your ability to manage the diving. Please, I mean no offense. I'm sure your very good at what you do. There has been talk of complacency - in my mind, it is when things have gone well for a long time that the danger of complacency becomes a real concern. We face this specter in the Fire Service when we go too long between major fires. One has to battle to continue to do all that is possible & prudent to stay vigilant against this very real problem, or things just might rear up to bite you in the.... ( oohhh, just had a flashback to the moray attack on Billy...ouch! ).
Best Fishes,
D.S.D.
