Ronny thanks for sending the posting on wireless vs hardwire comms. In it you brought up a great topic for discussion - putting more than one diver down at a time. There are three different categories of patterns: solo-tethered-tender-directed diving (one diver per pattern), then there is more than one diver down but only one diver per pattern (still solo-tethered-tender-directed), and lastly there is multiple divers per pattern. We use the first two for low visibility operations and for many reasons do not teach or use the latter. I am talking strictly about search dives here - not dives on submerged vehicles. For vehicle dives we have a second diver down to serve as a tender for the primary diver should the primary diver lose direct line access to his tender by going inside the vehicle to search. Losing direct line access means that the line is no longer straight between the tender and diver, it is bent at some point because it is against something.

For those of you that put multiple divers down how are you recording exactly where the diver's are searching - with 1 foot by 1 foot accuracy. If you are putting them all on one line for example, how can tenders record if every diver is exactly in line with each other - that the line is perfectly straight without any bends. If one diver gets as little as one or two feet ahead of another diver you just shortened your line length. Even with buoys or a person and a buoy at either end of the line that will not be observed or documentable. We have yet to find a team that has accurate search profiles on a profile map with such a system. If somone does have this, please fax a sample to 845 331-2668. Then we can continue discuss it.

There are other problems with multi-diver line patterns. But first let's hear what y'all have to say.

This is a huge topic so it should bring up some good discussions. I'm still writing a posting re: Air II and giving up primary regs., etc to ask questions that were left unanswered by the folks that said they liked their Air II's - and thank you very much to those folks for responding, and for responding with such courtesy and professionalism!

It is great to see that teams that we haven't even trained have picked up and are using the 90%-ready diver system. Kudos to improving safety! It is really wonderful to see how safety can be increased through even remote communication like discussion groups, magazine articles, and phone conversations.

Also kudos to those teams that still train with line signals even though they use comm systems. It amazes me how on simple searches some teams will abandon a search if their comm's go down. We recommend verbalizing the line signal on the comm as the standard procedure so that if a comm goes down, there is a smooth and simple transition to line signals. For example, instead of saying "diver stop, face the line and tighten it," say "1". Instead of saying "diver go left" say "4." That way the line signals are always being used even when comms are being used. They become second nature.

Shawn, boat race operator rescues - yup that's a good example of when wireless comms come in mighty handy. Can we get you to write some postings about the procedures and kinds of problems you face with these operations? I know there are others on this group that work boat races.

Andrea Zaferes
Lifeguard Systems & RIPTIDE
www.teamlgs.com www.rip-tide.org
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