Being Prepared when problems arise
The scout motto “Be Prepared” is always a good thing to keep in mind. It doesn’t mean you will fully be prepared for every situation (diving or not) or that you can take care of anything that may happen unless you are MacGyver. No one is a miracle worker. Being prepared is something I think a person is always learning. Each new experience that comes up can bring a whole new way of looking at something. Even walking across the street has its hazards/risks that you need to be prepared for. Sometimes we do things that we do all the time but may never think about the “What Ifs”.
There are also different levels of being prepared such as; taking your dog for a walk, planning a decompression dive, hiking in the local mountains, or planning a vacation. Just about everything we do has the potential for problems with hazards/risks involved. I think being prepared is a combination of things like having the correct knowledge, skills, supplies, tools, mental attitude, being physically fit, having a margin of safety, and more. You also need to know how to tailor all this to whatever you are doing. It could be something as easy as sitting in front of the computer all day or harder, like hiking Half Dome in Yosemite in a day. Most of us like to do multiple activities and with each activity, there are sometimes different needs, hazards/risks that should be thought about.
I think you can see how all this can fit into the activities you might do and more. There are many different types of activities such as; beach and boat diving, camping and diving, hiking, and long weekend trips and there are different ways to prepare for each. A Save-A-Dive kit will probably not be very useful on a hike and not doing a thorough pre-dive plan could get you into trouble. The things you may need for each activity can change.
As in any other sport, something will eventually go wrong and the big question is are you prepared. If you have given some thought to what you are planning and what type of hazards/risk could be involved then you are already on the right path. It could make or break a trip.
By Ken Kollwitz
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