NEWS

Battle Back

Marine Nick Gibbons of 45 Commando diving in Cyprus

In 2009 the Army Sub-Aqua Diving Association (ASADA) in conjunction with the Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court organised the first Services sub-aqua diving expedition as part of "Battle Back". The expedition took place in Cyprus between 31 May and 11 June 2009. Five soldiers and one Royal Marine participated all completing their British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) "Ocean Diver" qualification. All the participants greatly enjoyed facing a new challenge and the freedom diving underwater gave them. In addition a number of "try-dives" were conducted for service personnel participating on the "mixed pursuits" expedition the week prior. The expedition was led by Lt Col Greg Wilson supported by a number of other members of the ASADA Committee and Mr Dennis Wigg from the BSAC Council. ASADA are running a further expedition in October 2009 to train two of those who took part to Sports Diver and three new volunteers to "Ocean Diver". In addition Instructors in Army dive clubs will be trained in "Diving Disabilities Awareness" so that the soldiers can continue with sub-aqua training when they return to their units. ASADA intend to run 2 diving expeditions per year for the foreseeable future in support of Battle Back.

Private Brad Hughes of 2 PARA and Sergeant Colin Suffield on the wreck of the Zenobia

"Five Bells" Job Done

A Diver's Story by Tony Liddicoat. A personnel account of his 50 year diving career. During that period Tony made a significant contribution to sub-aqua diving.

Red Sea Wreck Survey

Ned Middleton, a former Army Scuba diver, well known author & underwater photographer and former Chairman of BSAC has been in touch with the Chairman of ASADA with a proposal for an exped to the Red Sea. The proposal is for an exped to the Red Sea to survey and identify a little known wreck lying close the the Thistlegorm in 8-12m of water. Ned estimates that the work could take up to 2 weeks and although unable to accompany the trip he is  happy to provide all the relevant details. 

Net states that the design of wreck suggests she was built 1860-1880. Wreckage is well broken up due to shallow disposition which will allow for countless dives in order to produce a thorough survey. Bow and stern are easily identifiable as is steering gear over stern. The bell is in there somewhere – probably amidships (which is where the engines are located) – being given away by the presence of a very long drive shaft running along the seabed. Should the exped be successful, Ned will continue to provide research support."

With so many expeds going out to the Red Sea it seems only logical that an Army Team should be prepared to take this on. There is no reason why the team could not still escape the hard work and enjoy a few fun dives in between surveying. If an exped can't do the whole 2 weeks why don't 2 expeds back to back the task? Those interested should get in touch with the Chairman (chairman@asada.org.uk) who will pass on Ned's details.

Soldier Magazine September 2006 Features Ex Jurassic Shark

Ex Jurassic Shark is featured in the September 06 issue of Soldier Magazine Pages 46 and 47, or visit their website Ex Jurassic Shark.

ASADA 2006 AGM

Click Here to view the PowerPoint presentation.

EX Jurassic Shark (Update, BFBS TV Coverage - Click Here and visit their Media Releases page).

EXERCISE JURASSIC SHARK is a British military diving expedition to electronically tag Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks around Cocos Island (the notional setting for the film Jurassic Park), off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. 

As a military expedition the aim is to develop the kind of leadership, teamwork, courage and co-operation that is vital to operational capability.  Beyond that, Exercise Jurassic Shark exposes military personnel to a unique conservation project and offers the opportunity to publicise the plight of shark populations around the world. 

The fieldwork is being carried out under the direction of the Shark Research Institute (the American equivalent of the Shark Trust) and is approved and supported by the Royal Geographical Society.

Click Here to visit their website - EX Jurassic Shark.

Point Brief BSAC DOC - 02 Dec 06

Geoff Hide – Diving Group.

Clare Peddie - The Future.

• Clare to finish as DO May 07 (3 yrs up).

• Diving Gp to look a exped diving.

• Diver Trg Prog to become electronic so easy to update. 

Gerard Ladden – Hyperbarics.

• Diving deeper, longer, new environment, new hazards to divers.

• Osteo Necrosis – Diver who had bend bent had fracture in the shoulder. Isolated incident? Pain in one joint not spinal (both joints).

• Non freezing cold injury – Trench foot/immersion foot. Women had it in hands.

• Technology is causing “Old” injuries to occur in new generation/group – divers!

• BSAC Med Offr sceptical about claims.

Andy Reid – Jurassic Shark.

• Presentation on 4 Dec 06. (Click Here to visit their website)

Marcus Allen – Look Ahead.

• Project Neptune – Behind schedule but on budget. Members will be able to update own details. Ability to help clubs set up web sites.

• Conservation – Assisting Scotland with marine reserve initiative.

• Future? Get membership on way back up. Decline is leveling out.

• Vacancies in BSAC – DO, Honorary sec, 4 Council seats (phasing change over 3 yrs, 4 per yr).

Brian Cummins – Diving Incidents.

• 418 incidents, 314 in UK .

• 16 fatalities, 4 BSAC members.

• 105 DCI cases (dropping), ascent 100 (going up).

• Separation and buoyancy control (to incl failing to inflate BC on surface) both common factors. In DCI repeat dives and no diving break a factor.

• 3 fatalities on re-breathers.

• Dive survey coming out for more empirical info on incidents.

 Richard Harrington – Marine Reserves.

• Marine Conservation Society – NGO.

• Only one reserve on E Coast of Lundy. No take zone

• Poss commercial fish stocks will be depleted by 2050.

• Stocks slow to recover.

• Evidence reserves work (Lobster size Lundy).

• On line petition, take a poster & poster, write to MP.

Gavin Ainsley (Qinteq) – Future of recreational diving.

• Look at trends, incidents and visions.

• Human Physiology – has not changed but our understanding is improving.

• Eqpt – progress every decade. 50’s scuba, through to CCR in 90s.

• Gas – Air, O2, Heliox. Supplies of Helium ltd (mined in Russia ). Move will be to re-breathers but easier/idiot proof. Argon to thick at depth, neon expensive and narcotic, no other gas works except Hydrogen!

• Pressure vessels. Boyles law inaccurate at HP (over 250 bar). Composite cylinders buoyant.

• Re-breathers - Granules could be replaced by absorbent polymers to overcome packing inconsistencies. CO2 monitoring hard, but infra-re CO2 sensors may be solution.

• Deco – Lots of theories. Working procedures not definitive solutions. Deep stops – no scientific proof. DCI evident after dive, Doppler detects bubbles in venous system (leaving body). Way ahead common solution/harmonization.

• Electronics – head up displays, acoustic navigation.

• Caution! Cognitive overloading!! Need “fit and forget”.

Presentations.

• Best Exped – Northern Naval Air Command. Exped to N Scotland .

• Heinke Trophy – Branch that’s done most, Totnes Branch. 

ASADA Gains Another 12 Open Water Instructors (OWI)

Resounding success, ASADA ran an OWI package (OWIC, TIE and PIE) which was kindly hosted by JSSADC (Fort Bovisand, Plymouth) 29th/31st August 06. Well done to all our new instructors and a big thank you to the instructor team (Sophie, John, Dennis, John and Kenny) for making this event happen, along with the Chairman of ASADA (Guy) for sanctioning and funding this event.

Pictures are available on the PHOTOS page and a students account is available by Clicking Here (PDF).

Should you require additional information on this event or should you wish to become an instructor please contact John the DO of ASADA (do@asada.org.uk).

To keep our sport alive we need more instructors; so get your skates on and get qualified. Click Here for more info...

Safe AT Sub-Aqua Diving Advice

Subject: 20060803-Sub Aqua Recompression Chamber Availability_Guidance for Expeditions-eml-LAND_ATG(A)-u-1555

For local staff action.

Reference:

A.    ATG(A) email 20060802-KENYA Dive Decompression Chamber Out of Service-email_LAND_ATG(A)-u-

B.    Joint Service Sub Aqua Diving Regulations dated 01 Apr 05.

Since the issue of Reference A, directing that no AT diving should take place in Kenya whilst the Recompression Chamber is out of action, further Subject Matter Expert (SME) advice has been received from ASADA and JSSADC. The following is now HQ ATG(A) direction on the subject of any AT sub Aqua diving that may be planned for areas where there is no re-compression chamber support.

"Ideally units conducting AT sub aqua diving should be within 4 hours of a Recompression Chamber. Should they be further away than 4 hours, or should the chamber be unserviceable, the maximum depth for diving is to be restricted to 30m and dives are not to be planned that would require decompression stops." Reference B also refers at Para 17e.

Exercise Risk Assessments should reflect this direction.Ex leaders are to investigate the location and status of the nearest Recompression Chamber as part of the pr-planning process and ensure the information is know to all participants. A double check of the status of the facility should be made on arrival in the exercise area.

Providing that he above guidance is complied with, there is no reason to restrict expeditions from exercising in areas with such recompression support eg Assension Island.

Regards, 

Graham

C2 (MSF)

SO2 Equipment

HQ ATG(A)

TDI Cave Diving Instructor in the Karst Regin of the Czech Republic and Hungary.

It was a sunny day in Brno in the Czech Republic. I had booked myself into a Hotel on the outskirts of town and spent 30minutes walking up and down the road trying to find Michal Piskula’s, TDI Czech Republic Office. I finally found a group of offices and man sitting in a security hut. He eventually understood what I wanted, made a quick phone call and within minutes Michal was there to welcome me. After what seemed like months of e-mails and deliberations on the amount of rainfall and how visibility in the submerged caves of the Morovian Kast would be affected a date had been agreed.

Click here to read the article by Guy - Beyond the Blue Magazine.

BSAC launch a new 'DIVING SAFETY' section on their website.

A new Section to the BSAC members Website has recently gone live dealing with all aspects of Diving Safety

The new section links together existing advice and resources on diving safety and will continue to build considerably on them. By gathering the information together this will make important Safety advice and guidance more accessible and help improve diving safety. The new section also provides the opportunity to extend the information and advice contained in the 'Safety Talk' articles that have been included in BSAC Talk since March this year.
Keep watching the Safety Pages for regular updates.

ASADA Instructor Development Opportunities

We need more instructors, but to deliver more instructors we also need more Instructor Trainers click here for more details. We are organising IFC, TIE, PIE, OWIC and Instructor Trainers courses for you.

Get in quick as there is only one slot left!

The DO can also be contacted via email for more details.

Collision Flares Product Recall

Just in time for the Easter weekend please see News item at BSAC NEWS and pass this important Safety message on!

Following a serious incident where a flare malfunctioned on April 5th 2006 seriously injuring a 51 year old yachtsman who was teaching a yacht master class and demonstrating the use of the flare Pains Wessex have issued the product recall notice which can be downloaded here The recall affects White Collision Warning (MK7) Hand Flares with batch numbers 2045 and 2046. All boat owners should check their flare boxes for such flares and follow the guidance in the Product Recall.

Regards,
Jim Watson
BSAC Safety & Development manager

NDC Bulletion

The bulletin from the National Diving Committee of the British Sub-Aqua Club

Issue 46 March 06

BSAC Basic Life Support Guidelines 2006  (152kb - PDF).

NDC Bulletin

The Technical Newsletter of the British Sub-Aqua Club Issue No. 40 September 2001
Important Note - Error in Nitrox tables

The BSAC would like to announce that an error has been identified in the BSAC Nitrox Tables. The mistake is as follows;
In the Tables on page 15, Table B 18 metres depth DECOMPRESSION STOP DIVES between 92 & 108 Dive time is printed 161 in error. This should be 101 minutes.

BSAC HQ has a stock of page 15 with the correct figure printed. If you would like a replacement page to be sent through to you please contact, Mary Tetley, Operations Manager on maryt@bsac.com or telephone on 0151 350 6220. Please give your name, address and telephone number and a new insert page will be posted to you.

Joint Services Diving Conference Report

From Guy Chairman ASADA: Click Here for Joint Services Diving Conference report

The Joint Services Sub Aqua AGM was of immense value and the format used will be followed for all subsequent conferences. The ASADA AGM historically takes place the Sunday afternoon after the BSAC DOC, which is held in London on the fist Saturday in December (so units over from Germany can do both in one weekend) and precedes the Joint Services Diving Conference which is usually on the Monday. Both meetings offer the opportunity for clubs and services divers to tell those responsible for the management of services sub-aqua AT (including the ASADA committee) how they feel things are going, where we are getting it right and where things need to be addressed. There are no restrictions on who from the Army and Joint Services diving community attends these meetings and all Army divers are strongly encouraged to go. I hope to see you all there at the end of this year!

Thanks

Guy (Chairman)

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