A chat with an old salvage diver in Seattle changed how I see my comms checks

I was grabbing coffee before a bridge inspection job and ran into a guy who used to work the old wooden ship salvage up here. He asked about my gear check, and when I said I did the usual 'check, check' on the com, he just shook his head. He told me, 'Kid, you gotta talk a real sentence. I once heard a guy say 'check' clear as day, but he couldn't tell me his own name when the silt kicked up.' So now I say my full name and the date into the mic before I go down. Has anyone else had a simple tip from an old timer stick with them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

caseywalker19d ago

Man that story hits hard. I mean it makes total sense when you think about it, a single word doesn't prove you're actually okay. I had a safety guy tell me something similar about checking harnesses, he said don't just tug it, say out loud what you're checking. It forces your brain to actually be there. That diver's advice is solid gold, I'm gonna remember that one.

sam_cooper19d ago

Totally, it's like how you can drive home and not remember the trip. Your body goes on autopilot but your brain checked out. Saying things out loud is the off switch for that.

carr.luna19d ago

Read something similar about pilots, totally lines up with what @sam_cooper said.