Cave video - European Karst Plain Project

WKPP Support Diver Procedures

by Scott Landon and Casey McKinlay

1. Pre-Dive Procedures
   
   
   1. All support divers should read the dive plan posted to the list for assignments prior to arriving on site. If unassigned you will receive the assignment on site. Parking information for support and gas divers will be communicated in the dive-plan so READ IT. Gas plans communicated separately from Project Director.
   2. ALL support divers should have their equipment fully configured prior to the official start time. Bring extra doubles and stages for yourself and others if needed. Gas divers should have their equipment ready for transport. Transport equipment yourself if needed to keep things on schedule.
   3. A morning briefing will kick things off. Check in with the coordinator or surface manager at the morning briefing to communicate your availability and find out your assignment. Be flexible and contribute in whatever capacity is required. Our ability to improvise and adjust dive plans is a developed skill. Be courteous at all times to park staff and defer questions of a serious nature to the coordinator or surface manager.
   4. Assist with tanks and scooters being carried to the water (make sure tank valves are closed and o-rings are in scooters). Do not carry tanks by tubing/rope while above water. Carry by tank valve when above water. Check with scooter owner for nose-down, shroud-down or stacked transportation.
   5. Coordinator and surface managers will arrange the decompression tanks on the surface according to depth placement (i.e. 20 foot tanks, 70 foot tanks, 120 foot tanks, 190 foot tanks, etc.). Tanks to be used by gas teams will be set aside. Gas divers will be responsible for confirming ingoing tanks with surface managers. Gas divers will be responsible for placing their own tanks if schedule starts to slip.
   6. Coordinator and surface managers will check to make sure the tanks are marked correctly for mix and MOD. If in question, the tank will not be placed.
   7. Coordinator and surface managers will require several support divers to assist with transition of equipment from the beach to the support teams so be prepared to get wet.
   
   
2. Setup Procedures
   
   
   1. Place decompression tanks in the water at the depth marked on the tank and clip tanks to the line with a double wrap on the clip.
   2. Double check all tanks to assure that they are at the correct depth before leaving the drop point. This extra check can be made by looking at the mix percentage written on the neck to make sure it is appropriate for the MOD.
   3. Make sure that 20 and 120 tanks do not get mixed up. (is there a "1" under an inner tube?). All oxygen tanks should have "OXYGEN" labeled on them to prevent confusion.
   4. Confirm with surface manager that all decompression tanks have been placed in the water
   5. If a gas diver leaves a decompression tank in the water overnight, its status must be checked before the dive. A support diver should be asked to check its location and pressure before the gas team starts the dive.
   6. Do not place any tanks in the water which are not marked with a depth under any circumstance.
   7. Place decompression equipment, food tubes, drink bags, drop weights, etc at the depth marked on the equipment or leave attached to the decompression tank. If no depth indicated equipment to be placed at 50ft.
   8. Rebreather divers will use 190 or 240 gas for descent using OC. Gas divers will use 190 gas for descent.
   
   
3. Support Procedures
   

   The only acceptable DPV’s for support and use within the WKKP are the 33 or 42 amp/hr Gavin. Support divers are not permitted to use a gas diver's DPV. The surface manager will make all decisions regarding DPV use for support divers on a site-by-site basis. Support divers are expected to use at a minimum double 104’s for backgas with the appropriate gas mix. Double 95’s or double 80’s are unacceptable. For WKPP support operations the appropriate gas for operating in the 0-190ft range is trimix 18/35.

   Refer to WKPP – Approved Gases

   1. Support divers must work in teams. New support divers must work with senior support divers.
   2. Meet the dive team at their decompression stops as determined by the surface manager and support plan. Give and receive an OK signal from each member of the dive team. Gas divers are expected to retain all equipment until handed off to a support diver. Clipping off used equipment to the line and leaving behind is unacceptable unless safety dictates removing equipment in which case the support divers should be notified that equipment needs to be picked up at deeper stops.
   3. Ask each member of the dive team for tanks or DPV’s to be transferred to a shallower depth for extraction later in the day or removed from the water immediately. During the winter at Wakulla, equipment can typically be removed immediately but during the summer, equipment must be stored at the 40ft ledge until late in the day or when the surface manager determines it can be extracted.
   4. Do not breathe from the deco tanks or use the DPV’s being extracted.
   5. Bring extra decompression tanks into the water if requested by the dive team and pass necessary communication from the dive team to the surface managers as needed.
   6. Assist divers getting out of and into doubles or rebreathers at the 50-foot trough and habitat. Have the long hose ready to deploy in case the diver has problems removing gear. The diver may have full double tanks, but not be able to reach a regulator during the process. Watch the diver’s eyes for any signs of trouble. Gear removal can be one of the most dangerous parts of the dive.
   7. Inflate wings on removed doubles and store near diver if diver has put on a weighted back plate. The gas may be used for air breaks. Doubles and rebreathers do not leave the water unless the diver has clearly communicated to the support team that they may be removed. When in doubt pull out the Wetnotes.
   8. When divers are in the habitat, clip their doubles or rebreathers to the bottom of habitat in case back gas is needed for air breaks. Make sure the wings are properly inflated and not pulling on the eyebolts on the habitat. For equipment removal and cleanup the general rule is if the tank/equipment is on the habitat/trough it is not to be removed. Tanks and equipment on the ledge may be removed as needed.
   
   
4. Post-Dive Procedures
   
   
   1. Assist surface support in removing tanks, doubles, rebreathers and scooters from the water.
   2. If prior approval is given, equipment may be broken down and packed away with the exception of rebreathers and doubles which should never be disassembled.
   3. Support divers are expected to maintain close contact with decompressing divers from 30ft to the surface. This is a critical window in terms of running a safe operation.
   4. Check when the Surface Manager wants you back to dive. Give yourself time to refill tanks if necessary, eat, check into hotel, etc., but make sure to return to help. It is better to do shorter shifts morning, afternoon, and evening rather than burn out on one three hour dive in the morning. Support divers are needed until the last diver exits the water.
   5. Support personnel must receive permission from coordinator or surface manager prior to leaving the site either permanently or temporarily. An accurate headcount at all times is required.
   6. Assist gas divers as needed with packup and monitor closely for any medical issues. Notify coordinator or surface manager as needed. Assistance is always appreciated to minimize post-dive exertion.
   
   
5. Procedure for Oxygen Toxicity & Procedure for DCS -- Refer to WKPP - DCS Procedures

Separation Protocol

by George Irvine

This is how we handle buddy separation issues. It is the responsibility of the front diver to know if the next guy is there or not. If he is not, the front stops, turns, and retraces. If the third guy stops, the second guy must stop and deal with him. It is still the responsibility of the front guy to know if the second guy is there. A light flash would be great, but the protocol must work in the event that a light flash is not possible.

It is the responsibility of the guys in back to hold light on the person in front of them such that the front person can see the beam and know the buddy is there. We stay close in all cave, regardless of size, but in small cave this prevents losing buddy at every turn, and it allows the buddy to ride through any silt or halocline or whatever stirred by the front guy without stopping and starting. If the vis gets really bad, the back guy's responsibility is to either be in touch contact with the front swimming or to bump the fins with the vehicle if scootering. This is standard WKPP stuff and I expect everyone to know this and adhere to it. I hate diving with people who can't play by these rules as it results in a slinky dive and a stress out. I personally thumb any dive where this or other breaches of protocol occur.

The front guy can do a sidewave signal if he can not see the back guy, which tells the back guy to swing his beam across the front guy's mask, showing that he is there. If the line is buried, the front guy must signal no line with his light (slow back and forth), and the back guy must automatically stop and hold his position on the line that he can still see. When the front guy finds the line ahead, he signals a fore and aft sweep of the light indicating he has regained the line, and the back guy can then proceed by returning the signal (not an "ok" signal).

We have no excuses for buddy separation lasting more than seconds. We stay as close as possible at all times. If you are not bumping into your buddy from time to time, you are too far away. The trick to what we do is team execution. The reason nobody can touch us in this game, including what are considered the 'best" in the world, is that they don't get this part. When Sheck Exley started diving with me, he was so amazed at what can be done our way that he talked to me every night at home and called me every day on his lunch break to talk about what dive we could do the next weekend. What Exley used to tough out by himself or with strokes over periods of weeks of aborted CFs, he could do with me in one day.

Just by way of comparison of philosophies, the UDSCT (made of up some of the most horrific idiots in Florida cave diving as well as the "best" from Europe and other places) took 90 days of diving to get halfway out JJ and my line in the main tunnel of Wakulla, and JJ and I went back after they were booted out and added to the end of our own line (twice as far as their max pen) in one dive in one day. The difference is in the ability to work a dive as a cohesive team. The little details are what makes this happen.