What safety equipment do you consider essential safety gear for a dive boat?

[Wookie]

With all the talk of CO monitors, PLB's, lost divers, heart conditions, etc. etc., what safety equipment do you consider essential on your day boat or liveaboard. The US Coast guard requires certain equipment, but many of us choose to dive where the Coast Guard has no influence. I was talking to another liveaboard operator the other day and he told me that some flag states continue to issue certificates depending on the size of the tip they get at Christmas.

At what point do divers take responsibility for their own safety and bring their own safety equipment? I remember when the trip leader brought the O2 kit from the shop, on day boats. The following is a partial list of equipment. Should a dive boat supply it, or are you responsible for your own safety?

O2 kit with plenty of O2 to get back to shore
PLB
AED
Realtime CO monitor
handheld CO tester
O2 analyzer
Basic first aid kit
Advanced trauma kit
EMT or Paramedic
Nurse
Physician
Chase boat
Crew left onboard while passengers are diving
More than one crewmember left onboard while passengers are diving
Suited safety diver
Suited rescue swimmer
Sat phone
Deco bar/safety stop bar
Underwater O2 delivery for "emergency deco"
Recent (or any) air test results

What else do you consider essential safety gear that the boat needs to provide? How many of you check that the boat actually has any of this gear before you book.

I have NEVER been asked for the results of my air test. By anyone. Including regulatory agencies. I have to supply them to NOAA as a part of my bid package if I bid a NOAA job, and I have to supply them to the NPS as part of my permit.

 

[D_B]

With all the talk of CO monitors, PLB's, lost divers, heart conditions, etc. etc., what safety equipment do you consider essential on your day boat or liveaboard. The US Coast guard requires certain equipment, but many of us choose to dive where the Coast Guard has no influence. I was talking to another liveaboard operator the other day and he told me that some flag states continue to issue certificates depending on the size of the tip they get at Christmas.

At what point do divers take responsibility for their own safety and bring their own safety equipment? I remember when the trip leader brought the O2 kit from the shop, on day boats. The following is a partial list of equipment. Should a dive boat supply it, or are you responsible for your own safety?

I'll take a stab at it

* O2 kit with plenty of O2 to get back to shore
* PLB
*AED
* Realtime CO monitor (as required)
handheld CO tester
*O2 analyzer (as required)
Basic first aid kit
*Advanced trauma kit
EMT or Paramedic
Nurse
Physician
Chase boat
*Crew left onboard while passengers are diving
More than one crewmember left onboard while passengers are diving
*Suited safety diver (as required)
Suited rescue swimmer
*Sat phone (as required)
Deco bar/safety stop bar
*Underwater O2 delivery for "emergency deco" (as required)
*Recent (or any) air test results

... differing equipment depending on dives, divers, and dive location

 

[Mike Boswell]

With all the talk of CO monitors, PLB's, lost divers, heart conditions, etc. etc., what safety equipment do you consider essential on your day boat or liveaboard. The US Coast guard requires certain equipment, but many of us choose to dive where the Coast Guard has no influence. I was talking to another liveaboard operator the other day and he told me that some flag states continue to issue certificates depending on the size of the tip they get at Christmas.

At what point do divers take responsibility for their own safety and bring their own safety equipment? I remember when the trip leader brought the O2 kit from the shop, on day boats. The following is a partial list of equipment. Should a dive boat supply it, or are you responsible for your own safety?

O2 kit with plenty of O2 to get back to shore
PLB
AED
Realtime CO monitor
handheld CO tester
O2 analyzer
Basic first aid kit
Advanced trauma kit
EMT or Paramedic
Nurse
Physician
Chase boat
Crew left onboard while passengers are diving
More than one crewmember left onboard while passengers are diving
Suited safety diver
Suited rescue swimmer
Sat phone
Deco bar/safety stop bar
Underwater O2 delivery for "emergency deco"
Recent (or any) air test results

What else do you consider essential safety gear that the boat needs to provide?

Current Line
Non-skid and hand rails everywhere.
Very experienced and competent Dive Master and crew.
The best and safest boarding ladder money can buy.

How many of you check that the boat actually has any of this gear before you book.

The list of possible questions is endless (Is the Captain sober? Are there any holes in the boat?), there is really no point in asking detailed questions of good operators, and bad operators wouldn't know or care, or would lie to you. I find out who the best boats and most competent people are, and book with them.

I have NEVER been asked for the results of my air test. By anyone. Including regulatory agencies. I have to supply them to NOAA as a part of my bid package if I bid a NOAA job, and I have to supply them to the NPS as part of my permit.

I think if every diver asked for documented proof of every required test and safety feature on the boat, it would quickly become a burden for you.

Hi Frank and thanks for the good question.

I can't possibly worry about a boat's air quality, crew training, certifications, safety equipment, seaworthiness, etc. etc.: I DO worry about a boat's reputation, and I only go with the best. A badly-run outfit is likely to try to hide that fact from the public, but will often have a bad reputation among experienced divers. Scubaboard and the internet generally have given divers a valuable tool for doing research and comparing experiences.

Just a guess, but I would bet that badly designed or broken boarding ladders cause far more diver injuries than all other causes combined. Slips and falls have got to be number two. Boat operators seem to dismiss these things as relatively unimportant, because the injuries are usually minor and divers usually blame their own clumsyness when they get hurt. Still, these things often need improvement: A boat considered "safe" for strong, healthy, experienced crewmen with good eyesight, good balance and quick reflexes is not necessarily safe for many scuba divers.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[fdog]

<snip> Should a dive boat supply it, or are you responsible for your own safety?

O2 kit with plenty of O2 to get back to shore
PLB
AED
Realtime CO monitor
handheld CO tester
O2 analyzer
Basic first aid kit
Advanced trauma kit
EMT or Paramedic
Nurse
Physician
Chase boat
Crew left onboard while passengers are diving
More than one crewmember left onboard while passengers are diving
Suited safety diver
Suited rescue swimmer
Sat phone
Deco bar/safety stop bar
Underwater O2 delivery for "emergency deco"
Recent (or any) air test results

What else do you consider essential safety gear that the boat needs to provide? How many of you check that the boat actually has any of this gear before you book.

<snip>

A Captain who is an experienced diver themselves
Really good binoculars


...and yes, I check. I lay eyes on these items.


All the best, James

 

[TSandM]

O2 kit with plenty of O2 to get back to shore (or until other transport can arrive) --
AED -- I think this would be nice; no boat I've been on has had done, to my knowledge.
O2 analyzer -- if they pump Nitrox, I think they should have one, although I bring my own.
Basic first aid kit
Chase boat -- if they anchor.
More than one crewmember left onboard while passengers are diving -- enough people should remain on board to drive the boat and retrieve divers. How many that is depends on the boat.
Suited safety diver -- for deep technical dive support. I've only been on one boat that had this.
Sat phone -- if out of range of other communications.

Our PNW boats generally don't pump gas, so I've never worried about certificates, but I have fretted a bit about SoCal boats, since I've learned that wet fills can mean hydrocarbons in the gas as well.

I'm with Mike Boswell -- I want nonslip surfaces and benches at a safe height for divers to get on and off them (having just blown my knee on a boat where the bench was absurdly low). And I want well-constructed, sturdy ladders with good handholds. I'm WAY more worried about just plain trauma on a boat than I am about DCS or other diving injuries. I have a lot more control about what happens to me during the diving.

 

[Pimdiver]

O2 Analyzer, Trauma kit for sure. AED is a wish-list thing for me. Competent crew is probably tops.

 

[vladimir]

I chartered an outrigger canoe a few weeks ago. For the shallow reef dive that I did, I was okay with the safety equipment that we had, which was nothing. I was glad he had a ladder though, to ease re-boarding. I do expect more from a liveaboard, commensurate with the increased risk of more repetitive dives on even more remote sites. I usually dive on the brand name fleets so I know beforehand that they have oxygen on hand.

 

[Gilldiver]

For live aboard boats you have to figure that help may be 12-36+ hours away, so things get complicated. Equipment lists are nice, having people trained to use the equipment is much, much better.

What procedures does the captain and crew have to treat a hurt diver. I don’t mean just bent or embolized – how about heart attack, blunt trauma, dislocated shoulders & knees, broken bones, ……

How about deep lacerations, do you have a suture kit or compression bandages and someone who knows how to use them? Got any pain meds?

Most divers get hurt on the boat or at the water surface, not from any effects of diving itself. I have seen way more serious problems with broken bones and body trauma on the ride to and from the site, falling down a ladder/steep stairs are the most common. But getting hit by the ladder and swim platform is a close second.

One of the things I just about never see is practice for getting an unconscious or unresponsive diver onto a boat. I’m 250 pounds, how are you going to get me up a ladder or over the gunnels if I can’t help?

 

[Crowley]

Some of the safety kit listed above would be highly desirable but is not likely to be present in many locations.

I'm talking resort-type recreation diving here, not advanced tec where the risks are more significant

AEDs, when I was back in Thailand, were not legal outside of the medical profession (it may have changed, I haven't heard). I highly doubt that an EMT or Paramedic is going to give up their day job to sit on a dive boat all day long because 99.9% of the time they will be just filling a space on the boat doing nothing. Advanced trauma kits might be great but who will know how to use them? For many dive ops, even the best, the above will simply be inaffordable

I must also point out that administering first aid without proper training is a lawsuit waiting to happen - in many places staff are reluctant to give out even aspirin from a first aid kit, instead, they are told to present the diver with the kit and tell them to help themselves. Yes, it's a crummy old world we live in.

As a bare minimum, a recreational dive boat should have
O2 kit
Analyser if Nitrox is available
First aid kit
Staff left on board who are trained in first aid and secondary care
Mobile phone (or sat if no mobile coverage) and marine radio.

The debate about CO monitors might be lengthy, but I do not believe they are necessary at the centre where I work.

Persons who might be at risk from complications arising from other conditions should, I think, provide their own medication and make the staff and their dive buddies aware of this. Diabetics, for example, should carry their own insulin or glucose (and generally do), or epinepherine pen or whatever. These sorts of things, I think, lie beyond the remit of a dive centre and are solely the responsibility of the individual.

Obviously, these things should change dependent of the type of diving involved. I work in a location which is generally pretty easy, the risk of being eaten by anthing larger than a clownfish is small and we have excellent access to shore-based medical facilities if required.

Safe diving,

C.

 

[Mike Boswell]

On a dive vacation in the Caribbean, my wife and I went out on a very nice dive boat for several dives. The boat was part of a well-regarded dive operation, about 45 feet long and almost new, and had a captain, two dive masters, and about 14 divers. There were no problems, the crew was great, everything went well and everyone had a great time.

However, the boat had one broken boarding ladder (tied up and not used), the working boarding ladder was poorly designed and dangerous, there were almost no hand rails on the boat to grab onto, the decks and walkways were slippery white fiberglass, and the ladders were made of polished aluminum pipe.

The tank racks were made of PVC pipe sleeves that cradled the tanks, and it was very difficult for divers to stand up once their tank was strapped on because bending forward caused the tank to bind in the PVC sleeve. Try to stand up from a sitting position without bending forward at the waist: Okay? Now, try it with a tank and weights on your back.

Take that boat and add a group of average scuba divers with all their heavy gear and cameras, a dose of jet lag, a pinch of seasickness, a couple of tiring dives, six hours of sun exposure, and some moderate ocean swells, and the odds are that some people are going to get hurt. I won't be going on that boat again!