Retention in the public safety dive team

[Scubaguy610]

Yeah, if it’s a safety issue, then it needs to be documented and sent up the chain. Attitude can’t be disciplined out, but safety violations can. Let things play out with your command, but if it is a consistent serious offense and not a minor thing here or there, then you should push it as far as your able, and encourage your team to do the same. Safety is paramount, the job is already dangerous enough. If not and you feel that it is unsafe to have people dive under his command, encourage your guys to voice that opinion, if that is how they feel, and you should as well.

Thanks guys, I appreciate that. I think I’m gonna type up a report tomorrow.

 

[Scubaguy610]

You know what you need to do. Document the issues and force a change.

I know that I need to. I’m gonna type the report up tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[JWard]

... he is rude, disrespectful to other members, and when it comes to operations down right unsafe and going to kill one of our divers I am dreading the day I’m not on a call out or the commander and he’s in charge…

I was the Safety Officer for a volunteer team. They pulled me in because their SOPs were over 20 years old, terribly out of date, and totally inadequate. The SOPs were updated with modern gear and techniques, however the dive team member that had been there the longest was a maverick, unsafe diver. He had been an instructor 20+ years prior and insisted he knew everything. Very loud mouth type, and he resisted any and all change. Unfortunately since he had been there the longest many team members bought in to his stupidity and followed his lead.

I fought it for about two years and was winning many converts on the team - they understood the new SOPs added safety and clarity to our ops. We brought in new members, who were trained correctly, and were making some progress. Then we get a call out for a car that rolled down a boat ramp (pretty common call for us). Call was in the middle of the day and I said we would call out after 6PM so we could have a full team on-site. There was no rush for this call. He didn't want to wait and got two other divers to go with him. Our Team Captain made it clear it was not a Team-sanctioned dive and went against our SOPs. They broke every SOP we had, and one of them was found floating on the surface, unresponsive, during his dive. He was luckily revived on the way to the ER, but did suffer some brain damage after.

I called a safety standdown and we had it out. The result was Mr. Old Timer still refused to follow SOPs, even though it was clear they would have prevented this really stupid injury/near death. I resigned and within a few months the County disbanded the Team over liability concerns. That was the right move on their part.

I feel for you and your situation but encourage you to keep standing up for what is right. If that problem leader is an issue keep pushing for change, or to get them out, or sadly walk away if you need to. You don't want to visit a team member in the ER like I did, nor at a gravesite. Teams that aren't all focused on maximum safety, work together as a team, and get along are headed for danger.