DEEP BREATH
divEr 82 divErNEt.com
A
J HAD ME IN a head-lock.
Seconds later, my skull slammed
into a wall. AJ is a Commando,
but this was an accident.
We had been doing a rescue course off
a short beach and, during a tow and
resuscitation session, a large and
unexpected wave had rolled us both into
the seawall. We’d also been practising
mouth-to-mouth and mouth-to-nose
rescue breaths without barrier shields.
A rescue course can feel very much like
a full-contact sport. How much contact is
too much during diver training is in the
news. The Editor’s leader Touch of
Confusion(June 2019) reported on
complaints made against an instructor
alleged to have touched female try-dive
students inappropriately on the
pretext of adjusting their
harnesses.
As Steve Weinman states in his
editorial, it’s a difficult decision to
report and comment on such
topics. In a small industry that
often ducks issues that create
negative publicity, some would
prefer press silence.
Nonetheless, the #MeToo
campaign sparked by A-list
Hollywood stars making allegations
against Tinsel Town’s high and
mighty has put sexual harassment
on front pages. Accusations against
politicians and business-leaders are
keeping it there.
It’s right that we look at the
subject within our own community.
I have seen one case of sexual harassment
in a dive-club. On a social night, one man
tricked the only female member into
closing her eyes, then placed his hands on
her breasts.
I’m ashamed to admit that I did
nothing about it myself, even more
ashamed that neither did any of the
branch leadership, who were all much
older than me. Even then, 30 years ago,
such behaviour should have been
considered unacceptable. But it was
allowed to pass.TEACHING SOMEONEto dive often
requires you have hold of them. It’s a
control issue, because without control,
you forgo safety.
Unlike the incident above, which was
unambiguous, how we touch a student in
training can often – perhaps almostalways – be open to question.
The legitimacy of needing to have
contact does create opportunities for
individuals to abuse.
I taught diving actively only for about
five years, starting in the late 1980s. It was
impressed on me that it was important to
prevent a panicking student from bolting
for the surface, because of the risk of lung
injury.
I taught my students with them
kneeling on both knees, because there was
more warning if they started to rise
unexpectedly than if they were on one
knee and could push off.
My Dive Master would stand behind
the group, ready to slow down anyone
heading towards the surface.If a student was practising a skill such
as mouthpiece-removal or mask-clearing,
I would have a firm hold on them. The
most secure grip, for me anyway, was with
my fist clenched around their shoulder-
strap. I would always ensure that students
knew that I would have my hand there,
and why, beforehand.
Watching other instructors, I know that
many prefer a hands-off approach, but
when I trained as a PADI instructor and
we were demonstrating student control,
each candidate was briefed to try to bolt
when we role-played trainees. None of my
assigned saboteurs even tried.
When it came to training real divers,
I recall only one student making it to the
surface, though I’d been able to slow him
down, losing my reg and mask in the
process. The incident, from about 3m in a
quarry, scared the hell out of me.In truth, I was more afraid of lung
injuries than I needed to be. I slowed the
student too much, causing him to swallow
water as he had spat out his mouthpiece.
But had I not had contact, the ascent
would have been way faster, 12-year-old
Danny might not have exhaled and could
have been severely injured. A paramedic
checked him out.
It’s important that during training we
make emergency scenarios as realistic as
possible. When I was teaching AIDS was
in the news, just as sexual harassment is
now. There were concerns about whether
it could be transmitted in saliva.
After discussion with students, and
with their agreement, we practised
making real mouth-to-mouth and
mouth-to-nose seals anyway.
I had learned like this myself,
but had also been taught to do it
by blowing on the casualty’s
cheek. The problem with this
pretend approach is that if you
have to give rescue breaths for
real, when someone’s life is on the
line you don’t know how to do it.ON A TRIP NOT LONG AGO,I
went to assist when a female
diver had a panic attack on the
surface and I released her
weight-belt. If the dive leader or
I had to stop and think about
how to get a politically correct
grip, rather than getting her
buoyant and back to the boat
in seconds, she might have started taking
in water.
Even during normal dives, we might
need to touch another diver – a typical
example is when someone is just ahead of
you, and you need their attention. It’s
likely you’ll tap them on the leg.
In low visibility, you might even hold
hands to prevent a dangerous separation.
It’s also inevitable that, once in a while,
you are going to accidentally touch
someone in a way you shouldn’t, if only
because we are working in moving water
and unstable.
I suspect that very little overt sexual
harassment takes place in diving. But the
risk of it occurring and, also, of false
accusations, clearly exists.
To ensure that we literally have a grip
on the situation, we must all rely on the
honour system. Let’s hope we’re all
honourable.Even in this
sensitive
#MeToo era,
being strictly
hands-off can
prove difficult
for scuba-divers,
especially in
basic training,
without safety
being
compromised.
STEVE WARREN
bangs his
head against
the wall...contact
deal