Full Service or Self Service

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Randyjoy,

Compliments on always doing it right. Using the checklist certainly helps and using military precision protocols help. So does having back up personel at the surface with communications and mechanics who's only job is to see to it that your equipment is up to specs.

Unfortunately, here in Florida we have something called the "mini season" for spiny lobster. We usually have one or two fatalities a year. Usually caused by diver errors, health and everone's fanatical need to turn over every rock to look for these critters.

Most of these divers don't dive all year and BOOM here comes the "big day" and they take out last years unserviced regulator from their dive bag in which they forgot that they added extra weight last year...yada yada yada. In fact, everyone on the boat is so wrapped up in getting into the water to catch these things that it becomes every man for himself--your buddy has already jumped in.

I truely hate this "season". I can't tell you the number of times that people on the boat I'm on have returned asking for their tickle stick or net or extra weight or a (ready for this) their mask.
Their minds have turned to mush. It is my opinion that the authorities should do away with this event.

I try to double check before I jump. Several years ago, at the END of the dive day, and my gear is stowed but not broken down somebody pops up and says he found a condeminium full of lobster. I quickly don my gear--it worked all day, I had plenty of air, checked the regs for air and jumped. Bad move--my air had been turned off but not purged from the lines. I had enough air in the hoses to get to 30 feet. Fortunately, I didn't lose it and surfaced next to the boat--they turned on the air.

Even with check lists, and all the precision you can muster, the probablility of an unlikely event occurs. You can't plan for all variables. But your system is way above what I have observed in open water diving.

I suspect that as an action becomes more dangerous the number of layers of protection increase and they could continue to increase until the probablility of failure is actually zero and the probability of performing the action is zero. Heck, I have a "keel" weight for a tank that gets too bouyant as it empties. The strap has embossed right into it a warning that goes sort of like this. "If you dive, you could drown and die" It's the best disclaimer I've ever read.

Keep up the good work. Just keep in mind that if you believe that your system is the one that is infallible, then you may believe that your helicopter can't crash and you won't get hurt on a SWAT entry--but you know that isn't true.

I applaud your attention to detail. Now how do we get several million people to be just as careful as you?

Regards,

Larry Stein

 

[randyjoy]

Ah...now there's the rub.

Agree 100%. I know pilots that routinely get in an aircraft with "if it was OK yesterday, it is OK today" attitude. I can see the same attitude crossing into diving. (Unfortunately, crossing into any field that carries with it some inherent risks. We get too complacent in our awareness of what can go wrong and how to prevent it. That's human nature).

I certainly don't believe a checklist system is infallible (a human must follow the checklist for it to work), but most of the folks I dive with are also in law enforcement and are familiar with a check-list situation, so the pre-checks fall right into place. It wasn't a matter, luckily, of having to get us to do them, we wondered where they were in the first place.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Randyjoy,

That's a great mindset--to expect AND follow a checklist. Your background is what actually allows you to see the logic and the need to follow the list. You also have many people in the background, unseen that continue to support you. I actually think this is crucial--the sheer number of people involved with an operation for support makes it very hard for you to slack off.

Somebody made the list, revised it so it is better, it was reviewed by risk managers and used by people used to dealing with such a list. You have mechanics, command and control, communications, and back-up personel all working toward the same ends.

Now try getting someone who was never in the military, anti-establishment, responsible for seeing to service, repairs and inspection, occasionally practicing the skills they need and what you get is a person just the opposite of you. They have one person to count on--two, if you count the buddy and maybe he's a slacker.

Even some of our most famous distasters had all the safeguards in place and it still fouled up. The Challanger disaster--the manufacturer of the boosters set a lower limit of 53 degrees for launch and engineers from the manufacturer even declined to sign off on the check list. Launch occurred at about 35 degrees with ice on everything.

The Apollo disaster in which 3 astronauts died occurred in a pure oxygen atmosphere and an escape hatch that opened inward. The dangers had been known but never appreciated or worse, ignored.

Apollo 13's lucky return to earth took over two years to actually happen. The tank that burst had been dropped two years earlier and the wiring was known to chafe. When the order was given to mix the tank contents, the wire chafed through, sparked, and ignited an explosion.

All three of these episodes were with systems that had checklists, double and triple redundency, risk assessment and sign offs. They had back up out the ying yang. The events STILL occurred.

If the space agency couldn't get it right, then how are we to expect our weekend divers to do so. Furthermore, how do you know if one day you will make a minor change to how you inspect an item you use, check it off and BAM!

You're doing the right thing and I'm sorry to be sounding negative but the bottom line is that humans make mistakes. The less support we have the easier it is to screw up. Just be careful out there and watch out for slackers.

Larry Stein

 

[detroit diver]

I never let the crew set up my stuff. I let them check that the valve is open, but I reach back afterward and check it again myself!

Some people love it-it's just not for me.

 

[WreckWriter]

Since I only dive doubles I find that many boat crew persons are not familiar with the proper use of an isolation manifold. If you allow someone to touch your valves it's about 50% that you'll end up with something turned off.

On the other hand, it's awful nice when the crew goes to the trouble to carry your set on/off the boat.

All of the tech boats that I know of make it a point to NOT touch your valves, many tell you so in the briefing.

For recreational/vacation divers, I think the crew's job should be to assist if needed but not to do the "full service" routine. Divers should know how to set up their own gear.

Again, on the other hand, as a former dive boat captain, I've seen hundreds of problems caused by incorrect gear setup (tank slippage, air not on, tanks backwards, BC upside down, etc) that would not have occured if the DM had set up the gear.

Tom