SAR network - an idea.

[NYCNaiad]

I think you are going to need a licensed entity to take care of the money. An insurance company licensed everywhere to collect premiums, work with SAR and other volunteers, manage emergency searches, pay out mega bucks. Really, I cannot see any company smaller than DAN managing it, and it'd still be a big step for them.

Perhaps, but the first step is to see who would be interested in actually working to help further this cause. Looking at something like this & saying it's a huge undertaking can make it seem overwhelming. Breaking it into pieces which can be accomplished & actually taking some responsibility for each of the pieces will help move this whole thing forward.

Right now, there are 3 of us:

• @Michael McKinney said that once such a group exists, he'd contribute to it & train to be a volunteer SAR diver
• @JohnnyC who registered domain names for 5 years & has noted to me tprivately hat he's going to start doing some research into current SAR organizations as well as beginning to record a list of contacts within the SAR industry.
• And me who will be writing an article about SAR & what divers need to know to help themselves be found along with my promise to help with the web site, hosting, social media, advertising, & content writing.

What we need is more volunteers who are willing to take actionable steps. Maybe we'll find out that there's a group who's already started this process or is willing to oversee this process. Maybe we'll find out that just a site with info for divers & loved ones of divers is a good first step. Who knows? But we have to begin somewhere.

 

[KenGordon]

Sounds like you want first world services in third world countries.

The place to start is with not beggaring your neighbours. Meanwhile, go diving in the places which have decent services.

I have not been following the thousand so of posts on the recent lost diver. Was a lack of local search and rescue resource an issue?

 

[Compressor]

I see that atlot you were up in the wee hours of the morning. I got only a few minutes of sleep too as it was a stressful day with the Cameron accident announcement.

These are great ideas. Thanks for thinking about them. Maybe something good will come out of this tragedy.

Rescue comes first about thinking of self rescue. That means making attempts to minimize having to be rescued. I dive with SMB but this is no longer enough. PLBDs need to be added to the list. Having a PLBD, will make rescue cheaper and faster.

Thank you again and kudos to all who stood up and made an effort to try and save a precious life.

 

[Compressor]

@NYCNaiad: Perhaps I can help you write about the some (medical) aspects of survival. PM me if/when interested.

 

[NYCNaiad]

Sounds like you want first world services in third world countries.

The place to start is with not beggaring your neighbours. Meanwhile, go diving in the places which have decent services.

I have not been following the thousand so of posts on the recent lost diver. Was a lack of local search and rescue resource an issue?

We're not looking for first world services in third world countries nor are we looking to have countries pay for anything.

As I noted in the thread above, "we're looking to create a group (or bolster an already established one) that could assist with water-related SAR, but more importantly help prevent the need for an extensive SAR by educating divers on how to help themselves be found. We want a group assisting with water-related SAR just like DAN assists with diver medical needs with both preventative education & support in the event of a problem.

• For education to train divers on the importance of a PLB, personal locator beacon, Nautilus, in water streamer, radar/reflecting sausage, etc. All the things that will help someone be found even if there are few resources in the area to conduct a search.
• To pay money in advance to local communities to allow search to be started immediately. (Just like with a chamber & DAN...not like the DAN search & rescue program which pays after the fact.)
• To host a worldwide database of contacts to help with the search which could grow over time (e.g., municipal/state/federal contacts, local SAR, local shops/rescue divers, press contacts, etc.).
• To offer a checklist of action items that can be done by the group, by the family & friends of the divers, by anyone involved in the SAR, & by people in the area. Something which can be used as a mini-training on the fly for all involved.
• To serve as a centralized source to manage everything & be a point of contact so people in all these different areas don't have to serve as experts & be handling calls/texts/emails/SB messages while also doing the search itself. The group could also be available 24/7, have their info published publicly, & have phone numbers that are reachable no matter where you are in the world (like DAN). No matter how good someone like the lead on Cameron's SAR is, no single person can excel at managing all of this like a group can."

Rescue comes first about thinking of self rescue. That means making attempts to minimize having to be rescued. I dive with SMB but this is no longer enough. PLBDs need to be added to the list. Having a PLBD, will make rescue cheaper and faster.
...
Perhaps I can help you write about the some (medical) aspects of survival. PM me if/when interested.

I will PM you as the medical aspects of this are something I have little knowledge about. Thanks so much!

Side note: Earlier on in the thread, I noted the need specifically for prevention. My SMB (& those of others) along with whistles did nothing when I was lost at sea for an hour & a half. We saw a boat pass by in the distance searching for us. We waved our devices & whistled. They didn't see us. That's when I completely changed my mind about what safety devices were needed.

 

[KenGordon]

We're not looking for first world services in third world countries nor are we looking to have countries pay for anything.

At the end of the day you WANT effective rescue services. You have a scheme you are concocting which might or might not provide those.

Here when a diver is lost all the nearby boats will come looking. The time I was involved in such an incident there were two or three all weather lifeboats, the local inshore (fast RHIB), a couple of helicopters, all the local dive boat and a few fishing boats looking for the missing diver.

Most of those resources are also available for lost walkers, bridge jumpers, broken down sailors, broken fishing boats etc. People at sea in general need support.

Training takes this into account. There really is a BSAC theory “Helicopter Operations” so divers know how to handle the pickup.

 

[NYCNaiad]

@KenGordon But how many people even in your area know the things that could help shorten the time to be found if they are lost at sea?

I'm all for diving in our local areas (I'm on the board of my local dive club in NYC), but we've had divers lost here too. Just because there are many resources in the UK & US, doesn't mean that having a global service isn't needed to help with some aspects. Just like DAN helps with medical issues. Don't you have DAN insurance even though you're also covered by your local medical services?

Up until I was lost at sea, I thought an SMB, a whistle, & a mirror were enough to help me be found. They weren't. Maybe if there was a group specifically touting the need to have safety gear to help someone be found, I would have had devices on me to contact boats & identify my location so I could have been picked up quickly instead of floating there in terror waving an SMB no one could see blowing a whistle no one could hear.

 

[KenGordon]

All of them that do proper training, and if not them then the people managing them.

Signaling devices are covered, A DSMB is essential and having a beacon gets a mention. There is a course instigated by the RNLI which specifically teaches what to do if actually lost, and just this week one branch was doing pool demos to their local RNLI crew to explain how dive gear comes off.

Here the first thing is to call 999 and ask for the coastguard. They then run the rescue. The coastguard and the helicopters are paid for by taxes, the lifeboats by the public donating to a charity (the odd one is sponsored). Sometimes a navy or two gets involved.

Occasionally people are found, there are stories of people drifting for 8 hours being rescued. More often they vanish forever, or like in the case I saw are found on the bottom weeks later.

Divers are just a special case of man overboard or falling off a cliff. To dedicate resource to them specifically is a waste.

Is there something that did not happen that ought to have happened in this Cozumel case?

 

[Dan]

All of them that do proper training, and if not them then the people managing them.

Signaling devices are covered, A DSMB is essential and having a beacon gets a mention. There is a course instigated by the RNLI which specifically teaches what to do if actually lost, and just this week one branch was doing pool demos to their local RNLI crew to explain how dive gear comes off.

Here the first thing is to call 999 and ask for the coastguard. They then run the rescue. The coastguard and the helicopters are paid for by taxes, the lifeboats by the public donating to a charity (the odd one is sponsored). Sometimes a navy or two gets involved.

Occasionally people are found, there are stories of people drifting for 8 hours being rescued. More often they vanish forever, or like in the case I saw are found on the bottom weeks later.

Divers are just a special case of man overboard or falling off a cliff. To dedicate resource to them specifically is a waste.

Is there something that did not happen that ought to have happened in this Cozumel case?

I think what we are discussing here are global RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - Saving Lives at Sea not just in the UK.

 

[DandyDon]

PLBDs need to be added to the list. Having a PLBD, will make rescue cheaper and faster

I've asked you before what you mean by PLBD? As many times as you have used it, I don't guess it's a typo?