No Diver Left Behind: Real Time Positioning to Enhance Safety in Recreational and Adaptive SCUBA Diving

For several years Brian Schiefer and Jamie Tyler, Ph.D. (IST, LLC) have been working with the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge (CWVC) to help unlock the physical and psychological benefits of SCUBA diving for veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other amputation injuries. Unique challenges faced by some adaptive divers necessitate advanced safety measures. To this end, part of our efforts have been to evaluate various technologies for enhancing the safety of adaptive SCUBA divers.

Last year, a few weeks after our 2023 SCUBA Challenge in Key West, Florida, we were struck by the loss of our CWVC colleague and friend Tommy Faulkenberry, who went missing on a dive trip he was working. Despite numerous methods to assist in locating divers who go missing each year (DAN-SA), most of them like surface marker buoys, strobe lights, radios, and GIS beacons require mobilization by a conscious diver at the surface. Subsurface location of unconscious or missing divers requires completely different approaches. The tragic loss of Tommy at sea was a stark reminder of why SCUBA divers should be monitored using subsurface, real-time tracking technologies to ensure they can be promptly located and assisted in case of emergencies. Therefore, this year we were particularly motivated to test the feasibility of using real-time diver tracking and positioning systems in adaptive SCUBA applications.

We recently spent a week in Key West, Florida working with CWVC to test and evaluate the Diver6 underwater positioning and communication system for adaptive SCUBA. We worked with Mr. Craig Hartzell and his team at Azimuth, Incorporated, which provided a DIver6 demo system. The Diver6 is a modern dive operations and management mobile system that includes acoustic wave technology for tracking and communicating with SCUBA divers. The Diver6 System includes a rugged laptop, topside modem for hanging off the boat, a diver modem affixed to the tank of each diver, and a Shearwater dive computer for each diver. 

Image Caption Azimuth, Inc's Diver6 Mobile Dive Operations and Management System with Acoustic Wave Modems.

We spent the first couple days familiarizing ourselves with the setup and operation of the Diver6 System in the pool. We then spent several days deploying the system on our SCUBA dives with CWVC veterans aboard the Phoenix with Southpoint Divers out of Key West. 

We were able to test and evaluate the Diver6 system in open water dives on several CWVC adaptive divers including one unilateral transfemoral amputee, one bilateral transfemoral amputee, one SCI diver, one TBI/PTSD diver, and several CWVC SCUBA scientists. The video below shows one of our CWVC SCUBA scientists Michael L. McCauley MS, LCPO diving with the Diver6 System.

https://youtu.be/-e9rOrREjNE

The Diver6 system was usable by all divers tested. From the boat, we were able to track the real time position, heading, depth, and air consumption of all divers using the system. The system we tested allowed us to track four SCUBA divers simultaneously. We found the Diver6 system provided improved situational awareness for topside dive operations personnel. We were able to identify the location of subsurface and surfacing divers throughout the dives. From the boat, we could also push underwater communications to the Shearwater computers including heading and water column position for sending one diver to another or for recalling a diver to the boat. A video of dive GPS tracks for two of our divers is shown below to highlight the position tracking capabilities of Diver6 for adaptive dive applications.

https://youtu.be/4hhDN2U1xwU

In summary, the integration of modern technologies in SCUBA diving has greatly enhanced the safety and accessibility of the sport. For adaptive divers, these innovations not only ensure a safer diving experience but can open up a world of therapeutic benefits and personal growth. There is no doubt that real-time tracking using the Diver6 enhances safety for all divers including adaptive divers. Importantly, we found the Diver6 was usable by adaptive divers across a range of experience levels and capabilities. As technologies like the Diver6 System continue to advance and become more accessible, the future of SCUBA diving looks brighter and more inclusive than ever.