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Safety Officer's Report 2007/08
Safety Officers’ Report May 2007 – April 2008
Prepared by: Bryan Curley, Safety Officer, UCD SAC
Date: 07/04/2008
Summary:
The 2007/08 season has passed out with few incidents but did include a couple that were serious with a real risk of injury or death. These incidents serve to remind us that SCUBA diving is an adventure sport with inherent dangers and that we can never become complacent while undertaking club activities. All incidents were dealt with in a competent and comprehensive manner by the divers on site and were all therefore resolved satisfactorily. UCD Sub Aqua Club has always prided itself on the way it carrys out all it’s activities correctly and safely. On occasion things will happen no matter how much you do and the club members have the knowledge and training to deal with these situations. We do it by the book and that keeps us and our fiends safe.Incidents:
There were s number of incident reported to the safety office in the past year and a number in which the safety officer was directly involved (these are the ones that still need incident reports to be written). A number of the incidents early in the season were due to poor buoyancy control high lighting the need for all dive leaders to be conscious of their buddy’s buoyancy and dive skill level. Especially early in the season there is a heightened risk of buoyancy control being lost on the ascent from a dive leading to a uncontrolled and rapid ascent. In addition to the SCUBA incidents there were a couple of incidents on snorkels which remind us that snorkelling must be taken seriously as there are a number of inherent dangers to this activity. In November of 2007 there was an incident on a club weekend that had nothing to do with diving. A number of club members were assaulted while leaving a disco on the Saturday night during a club weekend. This attack was unprovoked and just points out that it is a rough world out there. We cannot guard against everything so we need to stay alert for trouble and steer clear as well as we can.
Training:
The major incident in October was very well handled and reinforced the need to continuously train to deal with a crisis scenario. On this occasion we had a boat well stocked with well trained divers who were able to respond to the incident and provide support and assistance to the Diver Emergency Responders (DER) treating the casualty. This may not always be the case and possibly, as in this case, one of the divers you would expect to deal with the incident, may be the casualty. The DER course is open to all divers and snorkellers irrespective of grade in the club and as such everyone should be doing this course as soon as possible in their diving career. Also those who have done the course or it’s equivalent have an duty to ensure they stay current on the techniques and procedure by taking at least the practical side of the course on a yearly basis. Even if you are not the DER responding to an incident if you have the training you can offer assistance where needed or at least know what is going on. A lot of people are tempted to throw our eyes up to heaven when out on the boat and another leading diver “incident” is being run thru. These “incidents” serve a very valuable purpose because when it goes bad, it goes bad fast and you don’t have time to think. The responder must rely on the ingrained processes and procedures learnt in the “incidents”. The “muscle memory” required is learnt this way and in a real incident will save time and ultimately prevent serious injury or loss of life. So when there is an “incident” on the boat all divers should watch, learn and get involved.Reports:
Date | Incident Ref | Diver(s) Involved | Nature of Incident |
1/6/2007 | 02/2007 | Ian Miller | Uncontrolled ascent |
3/6/2007 | 03/2007 | Claire Westbrook | Uncontrolled ascent |
4/6/2007 | 04/2007 | Katie Maguire | Regulator letting in water |
7/6/2007 | 05/2007 | Bairbre Mullee | Trapped on snorkel duck dive |
16/6/2007 | 06/2007 | Multiple | Boat Engine Failure |
12/8/2007 | 07/2007 | Bernard Brady | Missing Diver |
13/10/2007 | 08/2007 | Jenny NiMhurchu | DCI |
23/3/2008 | 01/2008 | Sorcha O’Driscoll | Cold Snorkeller – Hypothermia risk |
The detailed reports are available in the Members Only section of the web site.
Recommendations:
Buoyancy control:
Proper buoyancy control by divers of all level is essential to ensure that a dive is completed safely. All should strive to master their buoyancy and be aware that this skill must be constantly practised. There is no magic way to prefect it, it is all about practise. To make buoyancy control easier all divers must ensure they are suitably weighted and familiar with their buoyancy devices. They should also remain aware of their situation to ensure they have their buoyancy under control before it is lost beyond a recoverable state.
Dive Knife:
All divers and snorkellers must carry a cutting instrument such as a knife or shears in case of entrapment in line. You cannot breather water so if you become entrapped you need a way to release yourself before the air in your lungs or cylinder runs out.
Briefing:
The DOD is not giving the dive brief because they like the sound of their voice. All divers have a responsibility to listen to the brief and note the DOD’s instructions on what is to be done in a particular scenario such as losing a buddy or a missing diver, etc.
DER Training:
All divers should ensure they have taken the DER course and make sure they remain current on the techniques and procedures.
Serious Incident Response Protocol:
The club is developing a Serious Incident Response Protocol (SIRP) to ensure news of a serious incident is communicated to the appropriate persons and provide support to the casualty’s next of kin. A copy will be available as soon as the safety officer finishes writing it and has it approved.
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