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Hal Lomax
Hal Lomax
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Emergency Drills

EMERGENCY DRILLS

Background

On December 1, 1958, fire broke out at an elementary school in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Fire crews responded quickly to the scene, but 92 children and 3 Catholic Nuns died, trapped in the school. The school building was built to all fire safety codes, so what happened? In the investigation that followed, it was determined that school staff and children had no idea what their respective roles were in the event of a fire. The United States currently averages one school fire every 1.6 days, yet there has not been one single child lost to fire in a school since the Chicago fire of 1958. There is more at play here than good luck. Every school (and most public buildings) in the western world hold regular fire drills.

On April 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank off Newfoundland, Canada. Actual figures vary somewhat, but between 1500 and 1525 people died in the sinking. Everyone knows by now that there were not enough lifeboats on board for even half the passengers, let alone the crew. Not everyone knows, however, that had there been sufficient lifeboats on board, it is estimated that between 500 and 1000 people would still have perished. In the investigation that followed the sinking, it was determined that less than 5 percent of the crew knew how to board or launch the lifeboats, and none of the passengers knew. We all see the news reports of the marine disasters of today. Never, since the Titanic, has there been a loss of life that even remotely approaches the magnitude of that disaster. Again, there is more at play here than good luck. Maritime law requires that ships today perform regular lifeboat, man-overboard, and fire drills.

The two incidents recorded above demonstrate how drills prepare people for dealing with an emergency. In an emergency or in any high-stress, high-adrenalin situation, actions that have been rehearsed repeatedly will be performed automatically. Military trainers know this - the US Army Special Forces, the US Navy Seals, the British SAS, and many other special forces drill constantly, and rehearse specific tactics over and over prior to missions. Firefighters in most major cities are constantly training. The IAFF (the Firefighter’s Union) will tell you that the departments with the most training hours logged have the fewest injuries and deaths, and save the most lives. Is this just a mere coincidence? Research indicates that it most certainly is not.

How Does This Apply to Diving Crews?

Every diver working today can tell you that he had to perform countless bailout drills during his training. I started asking divers a few years ago how many bailout drills they had performed since leaving school. You would be shocked (or maybe not) to find out that most divers I have encountered offshore have not carried out one single bailout drill since leaving school. And for some of the grey-hairs, that was not yesterday. It is probably the most important (and simple) drill that any diver can perform, yet it is not done. We have all had to climb out of the rack on the off-shift for muster station drills, helideck incident drills, lifeboat drills, and all of the other IMO required drills that our vessels have to perform. And let’s face it: none of us are really happy about it when it happens, but we do it. But how many of us regularly carry out drills that specifically address the emergencies that can arise with the diving operation?

I worked as a supervisor under one superintendent in the Middle East who everyone said was “anal about drills for the diving crew”. I can tell you this much: had an incident occurred on one of that man’s crews, he could rest assured that his supervisors and divers would perform exactly as they should. I thought that his attitude toward drills was exactly the way it should be (and I did not get grief for holding drills). Every one of us has to realize that we are working in an environment that does not support life. It may well be an over used cliché, but it is true. We do not often get second chances. What the divers, diving supervisors, and the superintendents need to realize is that in regards to diving, there are not many items on the safety agenda that are more important than holding regular emergency drills. I have even seen supervisors fill out “record of training” forms when the drills were simply done orally. An oral drill is like having a medical performed by telephone - it's of little use. The real importance of the divers lives to the supervisor or the superintendent will be directly reflected by how and how often they actually perform emergency drills. That is one hard statement, but it is true.

Remember that drills are a part of safety training, and in training, repetition is important. Repeating a task is what "makes it stick", as an old instructor used to say. It has been proven, that constant repetition of a given task will enable the subject to carry out that task under extremely high stress, as though it were a biological response. That is the reason that we keep repeating our offshore survival, firefighting, first-aid, and so on.

Which Drills?

There are some emergency drills that must be performed, regardless of the operation or location. There are the simple drills: loss of gas (bailout) drill, and loss of comms (line-pull) drill and the more complex drills: standby diver deployment, unconscious/injured diver recovery, diver on deck with DCS, trapped diver, man down drills, etc. Most of these can be performed with very little (or no) impact on the crew’s productivity. Others, equally important, will impact productivity. These drills, such as HRC deployment and loss of power to the main bell recovery winch, will of necessity require more critical timing and planning.

Then there are jobsite specific drills, such a Hydrogen Sulfide drills with a diver in the water. These are a little more complicated, and each job typically will require a specific procedure to be worked out between the diving department, the client, and the vessel personnel.

View attachment: hydrogen sulfide drill 002.jpgView attachment: hydrogen sulfide drill 003.jpg

The Important Stuff

The same superintendent mentioned above had a favorite saying about drills that I have used ever since I first heard him say it: “with drills, technique is as important as time”. I’m not saying time is not important, but first you work on the technique. When the diving crew gets the technique down to a science, the speed will follow. And technique is not always the same. For example, we have all used different LARS set up in different configurations on different types of vessel and installation. Each system is unique, and likewise the method to deploy the standby diver and recover an injured diver will be slightly different. This will require some discussion on the part of the divers and the supervisors. Each time a drill is carried out, there should be a discussion after the fact to examine what worked, and what did not. This is far better than figuring it out during a life or death emergency situation.

How Often?

Diving crews should perform the simple drills as often as possible. These keep the individual divers on their toes and ready to address small problems before they get big. The more complex drills often have to be planned for weather days or other down days to reduce impact on productivity, but usually there is a chance to fit one in per week. With diving crew rotations the way they are, in order to keep the crew up on emergency procedures, one per week (per shift) is a necessity.

View attachment: firefighting course 01.jpg

What Repercussions Can I Expect?

Hard as it may be to believe (when you look at the death rate over the past few years) there is a slightly more positive view of safety on the jobsite today than in times past. I recall client representatives yelling “never mind the damn bailout, get that diver in the water” and similar comments, and believe me – they were not joking. Today it is more common to have them pointing out a tripping hazard beside the chamber van. The clients (for the most part) realize that drills are important, but they still will not stand for the job being delayed to perform a drill. Plan your drills accordingly, and the client and your employer will appreciate it. Keep records of all drills performed, and most clients will want copies for their records. Drills are the best way to prepare the crew for an emergency, and if (God forbid) there is an incident, you will have a real chance of seeing that there is a favorable outcome.


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A brief example of one emergency drill:

Unconscious diver recovery in SRP boat.

Drill review

Date: 08th May, 2010

Time: 16h50´

Situation: Kashagan Oilfield

Conducted by: Arturo Villazón

Goals

The unconscious diver recovery in SRP boat drill, was conducted to probe the efficiency of existing methods used in the stages of:

  • Transport a injured diver on SRP boat
  • Transfer to DDC on board of PLB “Castoro-12â€

Also, the main goal of the drill is to seek improvements in the above steps to make the procedures safer for all personnel involved in a real situation.

Scenario background

A normal diving operation was carried out in the frame of the “Trunk & Production Lines†Project in the Kashagan Oilfield. North Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan sector

Due to the extremely sallow water, less than four meters, and the specific task (pre-trenching boulder removal operations), the diving was carried out using a dedicated build diving workboat and SCUBA replacement package under IMCA D040 Design Document.

According with IMCA Guidelines, as a support of the SCUBA Replacement operations, a full containerized surface supplied system, including a decompression chamber under IMCA D023 Design Document it´s available in the PLB “Castoro-12â€.

During one of the routine dives, a diver appears suddenly in surface, unconscious and unresponsive.

Dive Report:

+00h00´ Diving Supervisor, inform via radio in Ch 15, to the “Castoro-12†bridge about the accident and require a, man riding crane, doctor and stretcher team on the aft/port deck. Diving Supervisor, start both engines, and approach the boat to the position of “C-12â€.

+00h01´ “C-12†Confirm via radio the availability of the man riding crane to transfer the IP to the DDC

+00h03´ SRP Boat arrive to “C-12â€, the Supervisor positioned the boat under the crane recovery point and give direct instructions to rigger foreman to low down the man riding stretcher to the bow of the boat. The SRP boat crew, positioned the IP immobilized in the spinal board, inside of the man riding stretcher.

+00h04´ The IP is lifted to the DDC deck a received by the “C-12†doctor.

+00h05´ After a brief inspection by the Doctor, the IP was transferred inside of the ML of the DDC for treatment.

+00h07´ End of the drill

Necessary improvements detected

  1. It´s difficult to the boat coxswain/dive supervisor to identify the Rigger Foreman to give instructions about the crane movements. The Rigger Foreman wear the same helmet and same coverall of the other Riggers. For this high critical situations, the Rigger Foreman must be clearly identify with a distinctive/high visibility clothes.
  2. It´s mandatory to instruct the Diving Boat skippers to don´t use the full speed during the MEDVAC operations due to the high power of the boat can produce slips, trips and falls in the boat crew or in the injured diver on the stretcher.
  3. The stretcher transfer manoeuvre, between the Diving Boat and “C-12†can not be approached safely with waves higher than 0.5 meters. In case of bigger waves or unfavourable weather conditions, the transfer manoeuvre must be done in the sheltered side of the “C-12†to assure a safe transfer operation.
  4. The speed of the Diving Boat it´s nearly to 40 knots with a flat sea and without wind, but in any case we can take this speed to calculate the travel time from the diving site to the DDC. An assessment must be done for each particular diving area according to the weather conditions expected during the dive operations.

Marine units involved in the drill

PLB “Castoro 12â€

TECNOSUB Diving boat

Personnel involved in the drill

Jose Toledo, Diver & DMT

Sergio Garcia, Diver & Technician

Daniel Sisa, Diver & DMT

David Figuerola, Diver & Technician

Arturo Villazón, Diving Supervisor

Crew of “C-12â€

SAIPEM “C-12†Offshore Doctor

SAIPEM HSE Officer

SAIPEM Superintendent

Agip Representative

And as a guest star....â€Konan the dummyâ€

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http://www.thedivers...7626121__04.jpg

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Well done, Arturo!!! What we need to do is get the absolute necessity of this kind of training across to all diving personnel, diving contractors, and clients. This is exactly the kind of drill that will pay dividends if a real event happens.

I think "Konan the dummy" is my brother - there is a strong family resemblance.

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With regards drills. We carry out all types of drill as far as the diver is concerned. Loss of air, no comms, injured diver and so on. But how many of you have carried out an unconscious Supervisor drill.

I am a great believer that everyone should know how to run the dive panel (Rack). It gives everyone an insight of the diving Supervisor's responsibilities but it also trains the diver to take over in an emergency if something was to happen to the supervisor.

I do this drill on all my dive sites. I did it in India a couple of years ago. I told the diver what was going to happen, but no one else. Well to say I was impressed by my lead diver would be an understatement. When he discovered that I was "unconscious", he made sure the diver was safe as he went through the dive records. Then he turned his attention to me, (I act this part well). His radio procedure and his dive crew organisation was spot on.

It is a good drill to try.

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An excellent idea, Mike. Actually never thought of that one, but it is a drill that we ought to be performing.

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Couldn't agree more Hal. In the early days we carried out one a fortnight but we had the time to do so on a bell bounce system.

I am somewhat perturbed, being out of date, that divers working on the bottom take an age to climb their umbilicals back to the bell in their "wellies". Do dressed in bellmen wear fins these days for possible diver recovery?

Never dealt with an unconscious supervisor but well remember a near miss when the supervisor and assistant supervisor locked into the DDC for a 200fsw Nitrgen tolerance test leaving the divers to run the show. I was on the chamber just prior to blowdown and noticed heavy diesel exhaust fumes although we were inside. I contacted the lad on the panel to postpone blowdown of the EL from the main chamber and did a visual check outside. It was a totally windless day and there was a heavy pall of diesel exhaust lying under the helideck like a dirty cloud just where the LP compressor inlet was potruding. Sure enough a quick blast on the DDC exhaust valve had me choking on the fumes and the excercise was immediately cancelled. Two supervisors who would have been unconscious didn't that day require saving after all!

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One of my favorite sayings ... "You fight like you train".

By my way of thinking.. if you don't train then you ain't gonna fight very well.

Drill .. Drill .. Drill . Practice .. Practice ... Practice. And don't give me that crap about "I ain't in school any more ... Cause your right .. In "school" we have control of what we drill. In "real life" the gotchas are "real life".

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I think we all had similar kindred spirits in our mentors. One of my old Master Chief's used to bark out, "Untrained people react, Trained people respond."

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