Q.Roo - Mexico cave safety officer buletin

mattmexico

yo

I received the following buletin from the cave safety officers of NACD, NSS-CDS, GUE and IANTD of the Riviera Maya, Mexico.

For questions or input please contact qroocavesafety@hotmail.com

Greetings
Matt

Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee Bulletin

Unauthorised Line Changes

It has become apparent over the last couple of months that a number of changes have been
made to permanent lines and permanent line markers in various caves systems in the area.

The Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee is not responsible for these changes and has
in no way authorised them.

Several of these unauthorised changes have already been addressed and the permanent lines
returned to their original condition.

As of Sunday 15th October the Gold Line in B Tunnel Maya Blue has been returned to its
original condition ending at the short jump to the A Tunnel Gold Line.
The previous jump to E Tunnel from B Tunnel has been restored and white guideline
replaced in E Tunnel.
All permanent line markers have been returned to their original condition.
There is a slate at the start of both the A and B tunnel lines stating that this has been
done and we have informed the gatekeeper at Naharon.

One of the goals of the safety officers committee is to maintain consistency of the
permanent lines and markers within the cave systems of the area.

This will be an impossible task without the cooperation and vigilance of the whole cave
diving community.

Unfortunately we are confronted by a long-standing problem. That is certain individual(s)
making changes to the permanent lines and markers in the caves to suit their own agendas
without regard to anyone else.

Having made changes the individual/s responsible has not bothered to notify anyone of
them.

It is extremely frustrating for all the other cave divers using the caves who will not
then be aware of any changes that have been made to permanent lines or markers with which
they were previously familiar until during the actual dive.

Pre-dive plans can no longer be made with any degree of certainty as to the actual state
of the permanent lines or markers and existing maps that may be being used as an aid for
dive planning purposes are rendered out of date and no longer accurately represent the
current situation.

This behavior is at best selfish and at worst potentially unsafe and should stop
immediately.

The permanent lines and markers in the caves should remain consistent from dive to dive,
week-to-week and year-to-year.

In reality few if any changes are required to the vast majority of the permanent lines or
markers within the caves here in Quintana Roo.

We ask all cave divers to help maintain consistency in the permanent lines and markers
within the cave systems by not changing them independently.

Should anyone feel a change is needed to the permanent lines or markers for whatever
reason then the following procedure should be used:

6. Contact the Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee
7. The proposed change will be sent out via the monthly e-mail newsletter to as many
people within the local cave diving community as is possible and opinions canvassed.
8. A decision about any change will be made based upon the majority view.
9. If a change is deemed necessary the safety officer committee will coordinate it,
advance notice will be given of the exact change to take place and the date on which it
will be made.
10. Upon completion of the change notification will be posted on the website and via the
monthly newsletter and may also be posted at the start of the relevant permanent line/s
and on site at the relevant cenote/s.

As cave divers we have a responsibility to one another and to cave safety in general.
If you should observe any changes to the permanent lines or markers while cave diving
please report them too the Safety Officer Committee and include the following information:

7. Name of the cave system
8. Date on which the change was observed
9. The exact location in the cave where the change was observed
10. Details of the change made
11. Name of person who made the change if known
12. Names and contact details of any other cave diver?s on site who may be able to
provide further information.

This information will assist us in returning the permanent line and markers to there
original condition as soon as possible and will also help to identify any individual/s
responsible for making unauthorized changes.

If any individual is found to be repeatedly making unauthorized changes the committee
will contact their respective training agency/s and request that their cave diving
certification be revoked due to unsafe behavior.

Thank you for your assistance in this effort to make cave diving here safer.



Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee

__________________
N 20' 37.617'
W 87' 04.693'
www.andreaswmatthes.com

mattmexico

yo

I received an update in regards to line chages

Matt



Investigation into unauthorised Line Changes

The Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee is currently conducting an ongoing
investigation to determine the person/persons responsible for the recent unauthorised
changes to the permanent lines in several cave systems in the area.

If you have any information that may be relevant to either the current investigation or
about unauthorised changes that have happened in the past we would please ask you to send
details by e-mail to the Safety Officers Committee at qroocavesafety@hotmail.com
Any information received will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Further we would ask all cave divers to remain alert for any changes they may observe in
the future and to please report them to the Committee as soon as possible including the
following information:

1. Name of the cave system
2. Date on which the change was observed
3. The exact location in the cave where the change was observed
4. Details of the change made
5. Name of person who made the change if known
6. Names and contact details of any other cave diver?s on site who may be able to provide
further information.

Thank you for your assistance in this effort to make cave diving here safe and enjoyable
for all.

Quintana Roo Safety Officers Committee

E-mail: qroocavesafety@hotmail.com

__________________
N 20' 37.617'
W 87' 04.693'
www.andreaswmatthes.com