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Hank, The boat captain is the last line of defense against self destructive stupidity and dangerous risk fraught practices. You need to be prepared to turn people away if they don't meet basic criteria. You can be sure that the attorney for the plaintiff (i.e. the dead diver's relatives) will consider you in the same light as the getaway car driver unless you have enforced basic standards. If you don't believe me, go ahead and ask one of them. You all know who they are and they are on these lists. Releases mean nothing in the face of obvious negligence. Do not under any circumstances accept only training agency standards as being sufficient. You must be your own filter. (See WKPP.org website for gear rigging information) FYI, if the following checklist had been adhered to the last four technical diving fatalities in Florida would probably not have occurred. CAPTAINS DOZEN PLUS: 1. All stage and deco bottles must be marked with 3" MODs on both sides of the bottles so that the MOD is easily visible to other divers while submerged. 2. No Air diving below 120 fsw, preferably 100 fsw. 3. Mixed gas i.e. helium, nitrogen oxygen mixes must be mixed to an EAD of 100fsw or less. Divers must sign off that they have the correct mix for a dive. 4. Remixing must be done so that the resultant mix has an EAD of 100 fsw or less. Verification of the residual tank pressure and signed confirmation of the helium content and EAD of the remix should be enforced. 5. Back tanks must be of the correct capacity and have an isolator dual manifold. 6. No diving with steel back tanks unless the diver is wearing a drysuit. 7. No diving with "bungee" wings or elastic collapsible wings or similar convoluted buoyancy compensation systems. 8. The back tank gas must always be the deepest gas. Never allow diving with a stage bottle of mix and some other gas in the back tanks. 9. For a dual reg double tank system the backup regulator should be worn around the neck on a necklace and the primary long hose reg should be breathed. 10. All in water decompression diving must have a support diver available during the final phases of deco. Ask divers about their dive times and decompression plans in advance so that you don't have some "hangman" interfering with an emergency. 11. Along the lines of #10. Do not permit extremely long exposures which will almost always result in potential deco problems and possible injury. The ability of the dive boat to manage emergencies offshore is not the same as being at the dock and dialing 911. 12. No solo diving on decompression dives. The dive team is part of the life support system. 13. Never permit drift diving without a towed floatation system. 14. Do not permit strange looking breathing apparatus (i.e. closed circuit electronic rebreathers or other gadgetry) unless the individual can definitively demonstrate proficiency in their use and they have legally absolved you of potential guilt. 15. Beware of personality types who appear to be "trying to prove something". These guys will get themselves or somebody else killed. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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