Help Help Practice Practice

[terry allen]

Generally the accepted practice is to shout HHPP and give the distress signal when "undertaking" some drills. Personally I feel that it is unsafe and bad practice as it can lead to a missunderstanding or the calling wolf effect especially on a crowded dive site.I do have incidents that support my assertion but would appreciate feed back from the membership.
Thanks
Terry
KDS KDS

[TerryH]

Generally the accepted practice is to shout HHPP and give the distress signal when "undertaking" some drills. Personally I feel that it is unsafe and bad practice as it can lead to a missunderstanding or the calling wolf effect especially on a crowded dive site.I do have incidents that support my assertion but would appreciate feed back from the membership.
Thanks
Terry
KDS KDS

We use pizza, pizza. No way could you take that as a cry for
help, but there is a more important point.

One commom thing that students forget is to wave. Trouble is
that because of the risk of getting a gaggle of divers and ribs
screaming over, this is often watered down so much as to be
ineffective.

Awnser: The one handed PADI OK sign. Assuming left hand is on
pillar valve/casulty, raise your right hand and make an elabrate
smooth wave ending with your hand on top your head.
Keep repeating whilst shouting pizza, pizza. All you've done
is told potential rescuers that you are OK and want your tea!

TerryH

[Tony Dwyer]

:=Generally the accepted practice is to shout HHPP and give the distress signal when "undertaking" some drills. Personally I feel that it is unsafe and bad practice as it can lead to a missunderstanding or the calling wolf effect especially on a crowded dive site.I do have incidents that support my assertion but would appreciate feed back from the membership.
:=Thanks
:=Terry
:=KDS KDS

We use pizza, pizza. No way could you take that as a cry for
help, but there is a more important point.

One commom thing that students forget is to wave. Trouble is
that because of the risk of getting a gaggle of divers and ribs
screaming over, this is often watered down so much as to be
ineffective.

Awnser: The one handed PADI OK sign. Assuming left hand is on
pillar valve/casulty, raise your right hand and make an elabrate
smooth wave ending with your hand on top your head.
Keep repeating whilst shouting pizza, pizza. All you've done
is told potential rescuers that you are OK and want your tea!

TerryH


Oddly enough, I was doing exactly that in Gildenburgh Water yesterday. I was assisting in a Rescue Scenario. Lots of fun!

[Hannah Thompson]

One commom thing that students forget is to wave.

Tell me about it. I was at Capers the other year on a really busy day and some bloke surfaced shouting for help, everyone looked round trying to locate him before grabbing the emergency phone, but because of all the other divers on the surface no one could see him because he wasn't waving. and then had an absolute paddy because no one ran straight to the emergency phone, he'd lost a diver who surfaced only 2 metres from him shortly after he did!!

Please every one GET THAT HAND IN THE AIR

I've used '2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps' before now it got some funny looks!!

H x

[Finless]

We shouted TAXI when I did the RD course.

The man on the gate also told people as they were entering the site that we were on a RD course and where we were doing it. Even so, we got a few concerned looks.

[sebsaccoach]

Something I'll throw into the equation is that people fall back on their original training when placed in a stressful situation, therefore if you train divers to say anything other than "help" you may find that this is what they do in real life.

Id prefer to get them to say "Help" in a quite normal voice so the accompanying instructor hears it, instead of saying it so loud everyone in the county hears it.

[David Walker]

Something I'll throw into the equation is that people fall back on their original training when placed in a stressful situation, therefore if you train divers to say anything other than "help" you may find that this is what they do in real life.

Not convinced about that one! The "falling back on training" might work for reflexes, but I don't think it applies to something you'd be shouting repeatedly for possibly several minutes. Throughout most people's entire lives they've known that if they're in trouble, then shouting "help" will get attention. That's not going to change after a few minutes of diver training.

David

[TerryH]

Something I'll throw into the equation is that people fall back on their original training when placed in a stressful situation, therefore if you train divers to say anything other than "help" you may find that this is what they do in real life.

Id prefer to get them to say "Help" in a quite normal voice so the accompanying instructor hears it, instead of saying it so loud everyone in the county hears it.

Sorry, it's an old argument that is supported by a few
old-wives tales. If we apply the same logic, than your students
will fail to be heard because when the brown stuff hits they will be saying "help" rather than shouting "HELP".

As long as you are as close as possible to the actual sequence
your are going to have to make some sort of compromise. Besides,
you cant tell me that there has never been an actual incident
whilst on a rescue course, which would make the "help" shout
impossible to distinguish from the training "help" shout!

Rgds
TerryH

[Hannah Thompson]

But if you're in the middle of the sea and you know your divers aren't training and someone pops up screaming - 'two pints of lager and a packet of crisps' you're gonna know somethings up and it's with your divers. Besides they'll realise that that's that silly and realise they should be screaming for help instead.

Something I'll throw into the equation is that people fall back on their original training when placed in a stressful situation, therefore if you train divers to say anything other than "help" you may find that this is what they do in real life.

Id prefer to get them to say "Help" in a quite normal voice so the accompanying instructor hears it, instead of saying it so loud everyone in the county hears it.

[Paul Beal]

We have always used "peanuts" when doing rescue scenarios but when doing rescue drills at Capernwray or similar the student tells the instructor that they would be shouting for help. Having had a real life incident in the club believe me, the resulting "HELP" was loud, blood curdling and still makes me shudder today! This was from people who had been trained the above way.

Paul