3 Things I Learned About Emergency Response From Cave Diving

Between 1990 and 2005 my ‘other’ job was as a scuba diving instructor, and cave diver. My actual career throughout those years was as a full time firefighter. Whilst the two are very different employments there was a significant overlap when it came to managing unexpected situations. Even nowadays when I’m teaching emergency procedures in the corporate sector, the same principles remain relevant.

In the mid nineties my buddy and I had arranged a weekend of cave diving in South Australia’s Mt. Gambier region. Access to each sinkhole or cave requires a booking so that the amount of divers at any one time is limited for safety reasons.

One dive I learned an important lesson was an early evening dive at Goulden’s sinkhole near Mt. Schank. My buddy and I attached our guideline (a hand held reel with bright yellow para-chord on it) to the wooden steps and platform kindly erected at the water’s edge to assist entry and exit from the water. From there we submerged and headed off into the sinkhole’s depths and ultimately its cave-like nooks and crannies. Once we had used one third of our air we began backtracking our way out, winding our guideline back onto our reel whilst following it back to the safety of the surface. Or so we thought.

Totally unexpected was how quickly I was managing to reel the line in whilst swimming carefully to avoid disturbing the silt at the bottom of the cave. The reason for the effortless winding of the guideline reel became apparent as the end of the line appeared. However, it wasn’t attached to the landing where we had initially tied it. We were still some 20 metres underwater without the luxury of a straight up ascent like in the ocean.

Panic and rapid movement in cave diving only exacerbates the situation. You use more air and risks stirring up the silt, which obscures your vision, meaning you’re lost, underwater, and you cant see.

Now was the time for calm breathing and movements, and to focus on the procedures that would solve the problem. Anything less would make the situation worse.

What was important right at that moment? Was it how cold I was? Was it the fact that it was an evening dive, meaning that we had no light giving us a hint where the surface was? Or that the line looked to have been cut? Whilst I did spare a little time trying to recall a description of the two guys who were loitering on the entry platform when we first arrived, those details weren’t helpful to my buddy or me right now.

At that time I had to focus only on what solves the immediate problem, worry about other things later.

The solution needed to only be as good as it needed to be to solve the problem, it didn’t need to be perfect. The emergency services call this ‘satisficing’. Sacrifice perfection to satisfy a solution. Also, pondering a solution and assessing everything, then weighing a decision is time consuming. Perhaps, time you don’t have. It depends upon the emergency. So if time is against you, weigh up information you have and don’t worry about what you don’t know. Use those facts to decide a course of action that’s good enough to solve the problem. Go with the first ‘workable’ solution. In this case we had a finite amount of air before we ran out, so the first workable solution was the best option.

In my situation in a sinkhole without a guideline I knew that down was the worst option, stirring up blinding silt. Just swimming and hoping was an option but not a good one. Straight up wasn’t possible, but up did provide the best possible timely and workable solution. Rise to the roof of the sinkhole’s overhang and follow the roof to the surface. The process doesn’t disturb silt, so you can see where you are going. It might not be the fastest route to the surface but it will lead to the surface.?Thankfully, it did just that.

Staying calm when chaos ensues is a skill. If you have to take a few deep breaths to steady your thoughts then do so. Now focus on what the actual emergency is. Work with what you do know, not worry about what you don’t know. Once you have clarity of the problem what are the easiest steps to its resolution? If time is against you, go with the first workable solution.

To summarise;

1. Calm promotes focus.

2. Focus brings clarity.

3. Emergency decisions only need to be ‘timely’ and ‘good enough’.