Posted on August 25, 2020September 24, 2020 by RAID UK — Leave a comment

SMB Diving and St Andrews Lakes

Two years ago SMB Diving took on the exciting project to open St Andrews Lakes in Halling Kent as a new inland scuba diving venue. We had to build the operation both above and below the water. We have enjoyed welcoming divers and clubs from all over and to see the reputation grow. We took responsibility for water sports and open water swimming but decided scuba diving is our passion. We have met and worked with some amazing people and made life long friends. We thank everyone who has been part of this journey.

The project at St Andrews Lakes is now entering into a new phase with new operators and more activities being run on site. We have decided that this is now the right time for us to take on new challenges and focus. We started SMB Diving to help encourage divers to get the most out of their diving and to enjoy a range of diving from inland sites, boat dives, shore dives, wrecks and even caves. We have always been very proud to be a RAID dive centre. RAID’s focus on quality and standards over volume is why we joined RAID as individuals. Being able to create SMB Diving as a RAID dive centre was a real achievement. It is an honour now to be able to work for RAID UK and Malta to promote RAID courses and dive centres in the south of the UK. We can also once again be actively involved in conservation projects around the UK.

We are extremely grateful to St Andrews Lakes for the journey we have taken and wish them every success. For us the focus is RAID in the UK and continuing our personal development in scuba diver training. Sometimes you have to stop and let go of one dream so you can move forward with another.

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RAID UK wish the current owner every success in gaining the required planning consent for the site. Scott will continue to work as RAID Dive Centre and as a RAID UK as a business development representative.

Posted on June 24, 2020June 25, 2020 by RAID UK — Leave a comment

RAID UK

MORE: Underwater adventurers, expedition leaders and influencers in our industry share their adventures with us. Talks every Thursday at 6pm (5pm GMT)

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Lanny Vogel – Thursday 18th June – “Why would any sane person cave dive?”

Lanny is a full-time cave diving instructor and, with his wife Claire, is the owner of Underworld Tulum (www.underworldtulum.com), a purpose-built dive centre in the heart of Mexican cave country with bespoke accommodation for divers. He is also the founder of Cave Camp (www.cavecamp.com), an annual event that brings together cave divers and instructors from all over the world for courses, presentations, socials and great cave diving.

Garry Dallas – Thursday 25th June – Exploring oceans and caves on Sidemount

Garry is a keen conservationist and an honorary member of Arctic on the Edge, a contingent of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, promoting protection of all marine life through media while presenting at schools near home and a speaker at national and international dive show events.

Gareth Lock – If only – a very impactful documentary (The Human Diver.)

Gareth will be speaking about the film ‘If Only…’ and how human factors links with this, what people can do to take key lessons from the film and workshops they can run themselves to get discussions going about human error, human factors and a Just Culture.

Gareth would like us to watch this documentary before his talk, it is 32 minutes long and a video I believe every diver should watch. https://vimeo.com/414325547

PJ Prinsloo – Diving into the history of Truk Lagoon.

PJ is a South African Technical Instructor Evaluator for cave, open circuit and closed circuit rebreathers and a member of The Explorers Club. He is involved in an ongoing expedition excavating a 2700 year old shipwreck at 110m off Malta. PJ will be presenting a collection of images from a recent trip he did with Jill Heinerth to Truk Lagoon. He’ll be discussing a little history behind some of the wrecks and the events around that lead up to the USA’s attack on the Japanese Fleet.

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Contact your local Dive Centre for the Zoom login code and we’ll see everyone on Thursday evening at 6pm ( Or 5pm GMT) . Alternatively, contact Keryn on kerynvanderwalt@gmail.com

Posted on June 1, 2020June 25, 2020 by Olivier van Overbeek — Leave a comment

Recreational Diving Medical

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Olivier van Overbeek

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E: oli@diveraiduk.com

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COVID-19 AND UK DIVING OPERATIONS – 14 Recommendations - July 8, 2020
Recreational Diving Medical - June 1, 2020
Prepare to ‘Arrive, Dive, Leave’, says the BDSG - May 28, 2020

Recreational Diving Medical – renewals

At the BDSG COVID-19 working group meeting on 28th May, the HSE informed the group that due to the lockdown, they were extending HSE medicals by 3 months for asymptomatic divers or those who have had similar symptoms but been tested negative for COVID-19. The BDSG asked the UKDMC if they also planned to extend Recreational Diving Medicals which expire during the lockdown.

The UKDMC met on Saturday 30th of May to discuss this point and indicated they would not be extending recreational diving medicals and gave clear reasons why.

‘The duration of a recreational diving medical is determined by the assessing doctor based on the anticipated stability of the underlying medical condition and can be up to a maximum of “indefinitely”. When a recreational diver’s medical has expired, it is not just due to time, but because they need a further medical review.’

‘The HSE’s automatic extension is only for working divers in whom “there are no problems and the diver’s last medical certificate was for 12 months”. That means any diver, whether recreational or working, who has problems or whose certification is time-limited, will require assessment by an appropriate medical practitioner in order to extend their certification. As a result, the UKDMC’s approach is wholly consistent with that of HSE’

UKDMC

Although this may not be what divers may wish to hear, the logic is sound as the expiry date of a recreational diving medical is based on a medical risk assessment.

The members of the BDSG are:

BHA (British Hyperbaric Association)
BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club)
DAN Europe (Divers Alert Network)
DDRC Healthcare (Diving Diseases Research Centre)
DDST (Defence Diving Standards Team)
Diving Ireland (Irish Underwater Federation)
GADAP (Global Association of Diving Assistance Providers)
GUE (Global Underwater Explorers)
HSE Diving Inspectorate (Health & Safety)
IANTD (International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers)
IDEST (Inspectorate for Diving Equipment, Servicing and Testing)
FINS (Federation of Inland Dive Sites)
MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency)
PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors)
PBA (Professional Boatman’s Association)
PSAI Europe (Professional Scuba Association International)
RAID UK (Rebreather Association of International Divers)
RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
SAA (Sub Aqua Association)
ScotSAC (Scottish Sub Aqua Club)
SITA (Scuba Industries Trade Association)
SSI (Scuba Schools International)
TDI SDI (Technical Diving International / Scuba Diving International)
UK DMC (UK Diving Medical Committee)

Posted on May 28, 2020June 25, 2020 by Olivier van Overbeek — Leave a comment

Prepare to ‘Arrive, Dive, Leave’, says the BDSG

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Olivier van Overbeek

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E: oli@diveraiduk.com

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COVID-19 AND UK DIVING OPERATIONS – 14 Recommendations - July 8, 2020
Recreational Diving Medical - June 1, 2020
Prepare to ‘Arrive, Dive, Leave’, says the BDSG - May 28, 2020

Earlier today – Thursday 28 May 2020 – the British Diving Safety Group COVID-19 team met to review recreational diving practices and the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The team are positively working together to enable divers to get back into the water safely.

Whilst there has been progress this week in three areas, the main message remains the same. “At all times follow any specific guidance from your devolved Government administration regarding exercise and social distancing.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-alert-and-safe-socialdistancing/staying-alert-and-safe-social-distancing

Inland Dive Sites

On Tuesday 26 May a BDSG member provided hosting facilities and chaired an online meeting of the UK Inland Dive Sites (UKIDS). Whilst these dive centres acknowledge they would love to open their waters to divers now, it has to be done in a responsible manner that is safe and sustainable. Common protocols and measures were discussed including how to control the number of divers on the site, parking, booking in, the sharing of facilities, kitting up, surface interval social distancing etc.
Inland sites now have to put in place specific procedures in order to mitigate risk.
Each site will be operating at less than maximum capacity. The key message will be “arrive, dive, leave.”

Each inland dive centre will open only when they are satisfied that their physical site logistics, social distancing and infection control will work for all. The site, the staff , and the divers. Whilst best practice will be adhered to, procedures will vary from site to site because each inland dive site has its own unique features.

Training

The BDSG COVID-19 team is acutely aware that the commencement of dive
training is a priority for many businesses and clubs. It remains vital that any training activity is still conducted in accordance with the relevant national Government guidelines.

UKDMC

The UK Diving Medical Committee met over the weekend.
The diving doctors are concerned that they do not know how the lungs and heart will recover after COVID-19 infection. Depending on how the lungs heal, it could lead to a risk of pulmonary barotrauma. There is evidence from the Diamond Princess cruise passengers that asymptomatic people had significant changes to their lungs.
Coronavirus can also affect heart function, which could lead to immersion pulmonary oedema (IPO).

The UKDMC are currently writing guidelines in plain English (which may include a flow chart) to enable divers to self-assess and be aware of the potential risks. For those that want more information, an article on COVID-19 was published in SCUBA Magazine last week. This was endorsed by UKDMC.

DAN EUROPE

Following discussions at today’s meeting, DAN Europe is now working in
partnership with the BDSG to produce a specific and enhanced set of guidelines for British divers. This is based on DAN Europe’s current guidance ‘COVID-19 and Diving Activities: 10 Safety Recommendations’. A number of BDSG members are working on these amendments.

OTHER DIVING RESOURCES

One of the strengths of the BDSG is that all the diving agencies work together to achieve safe recreational diving for all. The group has therefore agreed that where one agency produces relevant guidelines on a specific topic, that these are shared or signed posted to, by all the agencies.
“Please work your way back into diving in a gentle manner”
In the meantime, the BDSG still advocates shallow, progressive shore diving subject to your local devolved Government guidelines. Scottish diving will begin to open up from Friday 29 May 2020. At this point, you will be permitted to travel short distances for exercise in Scotland, i.e. broadly within five miles.