A friend of mine sent me this article (I won't reproduce it because of potential copyright issues, but unfortunately I don't have a link to it):

"NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (April 29) - A recreational diver forgotten at sea by a boat crew drifted five hours and prayed for his life before a Boy Scout on an excursion aboard a century-old ship spotted him.

Dan Carlock, 45, was left by his diving group Sunday as he drifted for hours about seven miles offshore. He noted the time of day on his small, waterproof writing slate and took photographs of himself to document that he'd made it to the surface.

Carlock, a former Boy Scout, recalled his survival manual: Stay calm. Think methodically. Still, he worried about how his parents would react to his death.

He said he prayed "God, I don't want to die," and "I want to be saved. I need your help."

(remainder of story snipped).....

Pretty careless of the boat crew. (Carlock was saved after several hours in the water, when a 15-year old Boy Scout, Zack Mayberry, on a "Tall Ship" training sail spotted his head in the water. Apparently the boat crew didn't realise one of their customers was missing until they got to the second dive site; then compounded their error by assuming he'd gone missing on the second dive, not the first.

Do you think the dive company would have avoided, or at least mitigated, what's likely to be a very expensive lawsuit, by investing in a waterproof PLB for each customer? (Obviously, counting to four was a bit too technical for them.) <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

We log every diver in and out of the water and I will mark down estimated dive times. Before we leave the dive site the Captain will double check with a head count from the dive roster.

As for the PLB for an average dive boat I think it would be to expensive at $500 per unit I doubt any boat operator would be willing to invest that kind of money. Also I couldn't find a depth rating for the PLB and we usually dive from 65'-200' so this may be an issue.

It kind of boggles my mind how this happens but it does happen. You need to dive with a good boat that has a good crew & captain.

Adam

Here's the link...

Diver Adrift Five Hours After Boat Crew Forgets Him

I suppose that's true about the depth rating; I was thinking that if the diver had had a PLB, he could simply have activated and alerted the Search and Rescue authorities. But of course, he would have to have it on him when he went into the water, and therefore it would have to be either rated for the full depth of his dive, or in a pretty strong watertight case.

This is every recreational diver’s nightmare, surfacing to find no boat where one is supposed to be. And this guy was equipped with at least a whistle, but no one on the dive boat heard it. I remember when we first started diving and I insisted on whistles for the ex-wife and me, and she was like, Why? And I said, How long do you think you can scream for help before your vocal cords wear out? I hope the Coast Guard takes some serious actions against the captain and dive master on that boat; they deserve to be left alone in a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean for a day or two.

People give more thought to securing credit card documentation and automobile security systems than their own lives. We accept industrywide insults from air carriers in the name of security and then blithely sit in stale,recycled air, filled with insecticides, trying to retie the shoes we removed at security while a worm gear in the tail is failing. How many people board ships and even look to see where the fire extinguishers, liferafts or PFD's are? I just investigated a job pushing boats at Catalina Island. It required a 50 ton certificate. One of the applicants had alcohol on his breath and I swear one guy had a parrot and gold earring. The company just wanted bodies. They didn't get mine, I'm to fond of it, as anyone venturing on land,sea or air should be <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Many technical divers now carry basic signaling equipment (streamers, whistle, flares, strobes) for just such an occassion. Not so much from being left, but from being displaced by the current out of visible sight prior to surfacing.

Blind Faith! Ignorance is bliss! Not my job, man!

Yeah the first thing I do when I'm working as crew on the boat is do a check of the saftey equipement. Including the EPIRB's, lift rafts, PFD's, first aid kits, O2 etc. I try to show everyone where the emergency equipement is and I try to make eye contact with them during my briefing to try and see who seems confused or just plain ignoring me.

Signaling equipement for a diver is a must. It's no fun being 20 miles off shore just drifting around. <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Adam

Amen to that. When I used to live in North Carolina, I used to dive a lot around the Beaufort area. On one dive, myself and my dive buddy were surfacing from a wreck site and could not find our dive boat. We dove in less than ideal conditions that day (windy, choppy waves, overcast), got confused and ended up surfacing about a 1/4 mile away from our boat. The waves that day were around 4 feet, and everytime we went up with the crest, we could see the boat. We whistled for about 30 minutes but no one heard us. We were finally picked up by a passing boat, but I'll have to tell you it was a LLOOONNNNGGG 30 minutes. From then on, I carried flares, whistle and a strobe on all dives. Granted I wasn't alone in the water for 5 hours like Mr. Carlock, but scary enough to me.

--Chris

I've just read the story through.

I question the action of this guys buddies. Whenever I dive I'm always conscience of the people around me. I look out for them they look out for me. Even when I've dived with complete novices the idea that we lookout for each other is paramount.

I've dived to 100+ meters with technical divers, who are by and large an autonamous group but even so they respect the rules.

Why didn't one of this guys buddies signal his disappearance aboard the boat?

I've heard that in Australia this kind of accident is on the increase, because there is so much pressure on a dive captain to get the maximum number of divers aboard and then to take them to as many locations as possible, thus safety procedures are rushed or even ignored.

In one case a dive captain "forgot" a couple ( husband & wife) whose bodies where found 3 days later off the barrier reef and the Captain wasn't even aware they'd been on his boat.

To those Australian members of the forum I'm not singulling (sp) out Australia in particular, it's just that many of my British buddies find it "the" place to dive. Which it is, hence I've heard a great deal about it both the good and the bad.