Commercial Course No.55 - Week 10

Monday 10th November

Today students have to complete their chamber assessments it was also time to sit the final level three theory paper. They have to prep the chamber, brief their patient and put an attendant in with their patient. All patients are given a scenario ranging from oxygen convulsions, tingling sensations, fire etc. which can make things very interesting for the chamber supervisor. Students are then marked and de-briefed on their performance.  

Tuesday 11th November

More chamber assessments today and it was also time to mark and debrief the final exam, there was a collective sigh of relief. After the celebrations time to catch up on paper work and bring our student record files and logbooks up to date before we move onto our next topic on wetbells.

Wednesday 12th November

Today we got into more theory covering wetbells and hotwater suits, all new things that everyone will experience during the remainder of the course. After the theory we set up the wetbell up for a dry run in the carpark. This gives everyone a chance to familiarise themselves with how it all works, each students completes a dry run going through the step by step process as directed by the supervisor.

Thursday 13th November

 We head to the Hume Weir for wet bell drills. After loading the boat and setting up the bell air reserve cylinders, we anchored in shallow water and lowered the bell for the first of our drills. The first scenario involves an unconscious diver on the bottom, the standby diver has to leave the boat, rescue the diver and secure the diver into the capola of the bell. The next scenario is a bell to bell rescue, where the standby diver is in and leaves the bell to rescue the diver. After this it was out of air scenarios where each diver in turn, goes onto bell air. 

Friday 14th November

Today is much the same as yesterday and we return to the Weir for more wet bell diving. After our practice run in the shallows yesterday, we pulled anchor and moved out to deeper water. We completed the scenarios again this time as an assessment which is an ADAS requirement. Students get a few practice runs prior to their assessments. This allows them to become familiar with the scenarios and we get the best performance as possible out of each student. Another cold but great day and we are now ready for our next depth range next week.