Houston..we have a problem…

We woke this morning to another windy but beautiful day. Just after we finished a quick breakfast, Gil, Annie, and Jen arrived at our cottages at 9:00, and off we went to Cliff Pool. Mrs. Tucker, the landowner, came out to greet us, and we thanked her for allowing us access to her property. This is the same location where we will be doing the human ROV broadcast experience for the students at Cedarbridge High School and Berkeley Academy during our stay here.

We spent the morning assembling equipment. Good thing that all that gear made it here in one piece! It is challenging just getting our stuff and ourselves to our field site since we have to travel via scooter! Annie drives a truck from the Aquarium, and Gil provides his own set of wheels, but it does make transportation a bit interesting.

Our morning started out a bit tense as we had some communication problems with the comms box and drop camera. Those were eventually resolved even though we had Carl at Sartek on standby just in case (thanks Carl!). At noon, we met with JP Rouja of Look Bermuda, a local gentleman who is helping us to broadcast our human ROV from the field site into the local schools. He arrived to do a few equipment checks, and then we were off to the hospital…for a tour of the chamber and to meet the staff in the hyperbaric department. Daniel, the hyperbarics safety officer, has only been employed for 5 days and he earned the privilege of giving our tour! We also met Dr. Schultz, Brunel, and several other folks along the way. A very nice facility!!

Driving in Bermuda has proven to be a challenge. Oncoming vehicles are to our right and turns are quite different than in the United States. It all takes some getting used to. Scooters are the mode of transportation that we use to get around the island which presents their own challenges. Some of us have opted to ride on the front bumper of a car instead of riding on the back of our teammate’s scooter! On the way back to Cliff Pool from the hospital, Bob began a lovely crossing over one lane of oncoming traffic. However, things turned sideways rather quickly! It soon became apparent to Renee that the turn was a little too wide and there was nothing left to do but prepare for impact. The scooter scraped its way along the curb and then came to an abrupt halt dumping both riders into an extremely soft grassy area to their left. The rest of the team was ahead and didn’t see the incident. A very nice woman in a car let them know about the crash and status of the victims. The sordid details were left to their imagination until a few minutes later the entire team was reunited. Both riders seemed a little pale…one more than the other. Then the shaken scooter pulled out into oncoming traffic causing the passenger to fling her arms to her helmet and burst into verbal nonsense…and everyone returned safely back at Cliff Pool. Fortunately, no Bermuda grass was harmed during today’s crash.

An emergency evacuation drill was the next order of business. The entire team gathered on a tarp at Cliff Pool and discussed the purpose of the drill and how it would be conducted. Dr. Annie Glasspool reviewed the use of oxygen on a victim using a DAN oxygen kit. It is important to conduct these drills so the team can efficiently respond should an actual emergency occur. During the drill, Bob was the victim surfacing at the end of their decompression obligation with his buddy Karl. Suddenly Bob became unconscious and the team moved into action. Amy ran the drill and delegated responsibilities such as activating EMS and retrieving the prepared oxygen kit. Safety diver Jen was deployed to help Karl tow the victim to shore and equipment removal commenced while providing rescue breathing. They got Bob up on shore and continued the ABC’s and secondary first aid. Bob began to breathe on his own and miraculously recovered after the order was given to cut off his drysuit! The drill provided all with an opportunity to think about and review emergency procedures. During the debriefing, the team felt more prepared to respond. The drill went well, we worked together and managed to remove Bob from the water and provide him with the care he needed.

After a fantastic dinner at a local establishment called Swizzle Inn, we headed back to Clearview Cottages for dive planning and briefing on tomorrow’s activities.

Team Members

• Jen Cate
  
• Rima Franklin, Ph.D.
  
• Amy Giannotti
  
• Bob Giguere
  
• Anne Glasspool, Ph.D.
  
• Betsy Hackley
  
• Tom Iliffe, Ph.D.
  
• Gil Nolan
  
• Renee Power
  
• Karl Shreeves
  
• Bernie Szukalski
  
• Terrence Tysall
  
• Jack Ward