Diving Expedition Evacuation Plans

It doesn’t take long to learn that in the world of diving, expeditions aren’t all created equal. I had the good fortune to be included on some big budget and rather extravagant expeditions early in my career that set the benchmark for many trips to come.

While I have both participated in and organized expeditions of all sizes I became dedicated early on to the premise that the smaller expeditions need to employ the same disciplines embodied in the larger events. In many ways it’s more important to take those disciplines much more seriously.

For example, it’s not unusual for larger expeditions to have evacuation plans generated and filed in case of emergency. Every contingency needs to be taken into account. This is especially true when the trip is operated in remote locations. Large expeditions often have many resources available to them that can smooth out the wrinkles in what may be a less than thorough evacuation plan or they may simply have enough equipment or supplies at their immediate control to handle emergencies that might otherwise become tragic events.

Smaller trips need to insure that evacuation plans are thorough, concise, and able to be implemented at the earliest possible moment. Keep in mind that if you are on a trip with limited personnel the need for everyone to be made aware of their responsibility in regard to the details of the evacuation plan is of the highest priority.

Evacuation may be necessary for many reasons. Diving maladies are only one of them Keep in mind that there are many possible dangers that can be encountered. Know your dive team and know the area you will be working in both undersea and above water.

Arctic Dive Expeditions

Every year for the past 6 years Scientific Diving’s founder has ventured to the Arctic with University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory. The trips lasted typically 6-8 weeks and the project were varied…

More on these expeditions later.

The Frozen Beaufort Sea: Part One

In Seattle spring flowers are beginning their March bloom as we board our flight to Alaska. Our first stop is Anchorage where we are meeting up with the other members of our Arctic Dive Team, headed for the Beaufort Sea. It’s only moments before we board the next flight to Deadhorse.

The further north we fly the more the world becomes choked with Ice. The runway in Deadhorse is a mist with spindrift. The wind is blowing hard as the plane taxi’s to the terminal and comes to a stop. The stairway at the back of the plane drops down. In a matter of seconds the heat inside the plane disappears replaced by the freezing cold air of the north.

For those of us who had been there before we knew what to expect and had carried on our parkas. For the chechakos who expected a warm walkway to the terminal the sub zero temperatures were a shock. As you step down the stairs the full blast of cold hits you like a shockwave, the frigid air fills your lungs and it’s hard to breath. Everyone hurries to the terminal.

The baggage claim at the Prudhoe Bay Airport is like a freezer. The only improvement over outside is a lack of wind. There are no carousels here, the luggage is slid through a slit in the wall down a steel slide where travelers have to pull their bags quickly or they jamb up.

Our destination for tonight is the Prudhoe Bay Hotel. It’s only a short distance and we decide to walk. Our walk becomes more of a quick paced shuffle as we slide over the ice covered road. We are in a hurry as meals at the hotel come as part of the nightly fee and are served buffet style for only a limited amount of time each day. They are expecting us and as we enter the hotel the staff ushers us into the dining room so we don’t miss dinner before checking in. The room is packed with people. Deadhorse is a bustling town again in a way that it hasn’t been for years. The Alaska Pipeline need repair and the oil companies have flooded the town with pipeline workers. It’s exciting and insane all at the same time.

The food is massive and plentiful.

Tonight’s Roast Beef night and our dive team tell many sea stories as we devour dinner. Tomorrow at breakfast we will go over our dive plan then unpack all our dive gear. Check it for functionality, repack it and prepare to fly out the following day for our ice camp.