Lowest Price versus Best Value

We were surprised to lose a new customer opportunity today. Remarkable because it happens so infrequently. 90%+ of our new business is by word-of-mouth as a result of our reputation so by the time we're contacted, both our offering and our company have been thoroughly vetted. We're not the lowest price but our customers tell us we provide the best value.

After answering this potential client's questions, we received an email this morning telling us they'd decided to go with someone "cheaper". What's disturbing here is the trade-off that's happened between lowest price and best value. It's a signal that the customer views dive safety training as a commodity: competitive offerings look similar enough that price should be the deciding factor.

We decided to articulate how we provide superior value and educate customers how to spot situations where lowest price may result in costly mistakes later for them.

Dive safety education changes frequently - at least every five years as a result of changes to international CPR and First Aid protocols. Not all instructors keep up-to-date. The 2012 DAN Oxygen class, for example, now includes using a manually-triggered ventilator (MTV) and bag valve mask (BVM). This equipment should be part of your standard (not advanced) O2 class. If they're not, ask why not?

A sure sign that an instructor is not current is receiving old materials without a plausible explanation. We've had instructors give us photocopied materials which is not only a copyright violation, it shows the tradeoffs they're willing to make to keep their costs down versus provide more value. What else are they not giving us?

An all-too-common practice is to quote a low price but not include student materials. Materials for many courses can be 30% of the total cost so it's not insignificant.

Probably the most outrageous practice we know about is that one local scuba shop charges extra for certification. While common sense implies that when you take a class you'll receive a certification upon successful completion, they don't see it that way and will charge you up to $50 to receive your certification card. Any "savings" you thought you enjoyed are long gone and now you have no alternative but to pay more in order to finish the course.

Lastly, many facilities you could take a dive safety course from are in retail dive shops which have a set open time. That means that no matter how your course is progressing, your session will be controlled more by the clock than by skill mastery.

We love Happy Hour - it's a great trade off when you're not really that hungry and don't want to feel full. Happy Hour portions cost less but you also get less - portions are half-sized and half-priced. That's acceptable if you just want to eat light or save money and are willing to make trade-offs between price and quality. It's not appropriate when it comes to dive safety education. Imagine being at a dive accident scene and explaining to relatives why you don't know how to competently use the oxygen unit or AED? If you've decided that training is worth doing, it's worth doing well.

How does Better Dive Pro offer better value? We are committed to life-long learning for ourselves in order to serve our customers better. This means that we've advanced our own education to the point of certified Diver Medic to competently answer emergency dive medicine questions from student and instructor candidates.

We include complementary eLearning for all our dive safety programs which shifts the time spent on lectures to practical hands-on workshops. We don't operate out of a shop so we have all the time you need to master skills. We don't charge for extra sessions if customers want them. We don't drag out courses simply to improve profitability. Your mastery of these skills is our only concern.

We include materials and certification costs in all of our quotes. Of course that is more expensive than the "tuition only" quotes but we believe we're providing our clients with better information since they're usually working with one budget not several.

For many programs, we include special surprises to reward students for their efforts. For example, if you take our Diving Emergency Management Provider program, we send you home with a waterproof First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries booklet ($15 value). Customers like these quick reference guides to throw in their logbooks.

We always look for more ways to provide value rather than reduce cost and charge less. We believe in honesty in pricing and our tuition rates are often less than competitors but we tell the whole story even if we miss out on customers who think they're getting a better value by paying the lowest (initial) price elsewhere.

Diver Medic Training Part 2

After the luxurious spaciousness of the Duke Chamber, the one at Bluestone was much more likely to be encountered by us as Dive Medics. The training chamber is a multi-place (more than one occupant) deck chamber (meaning it could be placed on the deck of a ship or any other emergent location).

Other than number of occupants, multi-place chambers differ from monoplace in another important operational aspect - multiplace chambers compress air while monoplace compress 100% oxygen. In the chamber above, we had three people and a manikin in the inner compartment and it was certainly cozy. It was hot (from compression) and difficult to do effective CPR due to the limited floor space. It gave us a real appreciation of what it would be like to work in a chamber professionally.

Bluestone Dive Resort is an incredible place, a quarry in the middle of the North Carolina wilds with world-class scuba facilities. There's a "tour train" to shuttle at least twenty divers at a time between the main building and the waters edge. The Navy has conducted tests in the quarry using an actual submarine and we learned about some declassified technology which was tested here that made us all feel safer about our ports' security.

Bluestone has been the premier training facility for all of the major regulator brands. It was impressive to see an alumininum cylinder purposefully exploded to demonstrate the dangers of "double-disking" the burst disk in scuba cylinders. A controversial practice, largely employed by tech and cave divers, is to disable the burst disk on their cylinders in order to fill them to a much higher pressure. One look at this cylinder should "scare straight" anybody considering this dangerous practice. If you think about the thermodynamics, it's not the diver that's at risk with the cylinder on their back, it's the poor fill station operator who's taking significant risk of explosion.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Bluestone Resort was their catering to public safety dive team training. A helicopter is mounted on the side of a cliff with another underwater to practice egress from above and below. No, they didn't let us jump. :-(

As far as the DMT course went, the second last day was the peak of excitement. The last day was spent improving our practical skills and reviewing for the standardized national test. One of my favorite sessions was doing clinical case studies. Many divers call in to DAN expecting them to punch their ticket to a Hyperbaric Chamber. This could explain why some injured divers are hesitant to call? The fact is that not all diving injuries should be treated in the Chamber. If the diver has suffered a barotrauma in the lungs or inner ear, compression could make the condition much worse. According to DAN, the most common injuries by far are ear injuries.

I'm very satisfied with the qualify of instruction and faculty for the Diver Medical Technician program at Divers Alert Network. I'm looking forward to being employed in the industry in a very different way than I have before. To give my customers maximum flexibility, I refreshed by Instructor Trainer credentials while in Durham so I can now offer every program that DAN offers, at both the Provider and Instructor levels. The Dive Medicine for Divers program represents an especially interesting opportunity because it's structured like a "mini-DMT" program, complete with more information about DCS, dive safety and clinical case review - "To Compress or not to Compress?"

Diver Medic Training Part 1

This week has been simply amazing (and it's not over yet!). Any time your Course Faculty biographies include the CEO & Chief Medical Officer, President, Senior Research Directors and Sr. Medics at Divers Alert Network (DAN) and attending Physicians at Duke, Penn and UCSD universities, you know it's going to be special.

The course started right in, Sunday morning no less, with diving physics, physiology and clinical application, intro to hyperbaric chambers and the role, responsibility and scope of the DMT. Being able to apply Boyle's, Dalton's and Henry's laws is critical to understanding treatment for AGE and DCS. Divemasters should remember these gas laws from their training programs? This was good review and being a diving educator, I felt I had a good head start already. Among my classmates is a pulmonologist, the Assistant Diving Safety Officer at the Denver Aquarium and two underwater photographers who work for the Cousteau organization. We moved into ear anatomy and physiology and talked about barotrauma and inner ear DCS. We learned about differentials and conducted neurological exams and were given some great resources, including an ear diagram on an acrylic clipboard, we can use to explain inner-ear versus middle-ear barotraumas. I'm looking forward to using these diagrams in my upcoming DEMP program.

The next day, we went even deeper into DCS and learned how specific treatments in the Chamber are utilized to balance the risk and reward of hyperbaric medicine. I learned a lot about breath-hold diving and how it has matured into a sport where top athletes are exceeding 700 feet - deeper than the Space Needle is tall - on a single breath of air! "Shallow Water Blackout" is a real concern for these athletes as the urge to breathe is delayed beyond the point where metabolism has enough oxygen to maintain consciousness. There's a whole new language among breath-hold athletes: "Mooglies" and "Sambas" refer to neurological deficiencies in speech and motor control respectively.

Gas toxicities, inert gas narcosis (not just nitrogen!) and CO poisoning were all discussed in detail. We looked at each of the top seven causes of recreational diving fatalities and how we can make an impact by example for each of the major causes. We looked specifically at many different types of medications and how they impact diving safety. The bottom line is that you need to look at the underlying cause for why the diver is on the medication in the first place: Does it impact their judgement? Is their condition stable? Is more than one doctor prescribing their medication?

The best experience in the first part of the week was our trip to the Duke University Medical Research Clinic. An unexpected surprise was being shown one of the chambers by Dr. Richard Vann, Professor of anesthesiology. I was fascinated to hear from him about his projects to push the limits of hyperbaric research to nearly 2,500 feet below sea level! The race was on between the Americans, Brits and French to learn to dive safely to repair oil rigs as a result of the gas crisis in the 1970s. Now depths far exceed what divers are able to do but in the early 80s, this was envelope-pushing. Another pioneering history of this facility was being made obsolete by the heart and lung machine. The chamber was just about operational to conduct open heart surgery in a 100% compressed oxygen environment but the fire hazard was great and the heart and lung machine made this practice unnecessary. Fascinating!

The facility has seven separate chambers and two of them were in use by actual patients when we visited. Our objective was to perform basic life support skills in groups of four candidates, one Evaluator and one inside Tender. We were given thorough physical exams to determine medical fitness to dive in a pressurized environment. We were only compressed to 20 feet but we still had to work hard to equalize our ears (more difficult than in water) and be concerned about venting air from our patients and equipment when decompressing. Our "scrubs" had to be high cotton content because polyester is made of petroleum which in a high O2 environment is a fire hazard. It was a lot hotter than I expected it to be, and louder. At depth, the chamber was vented and quite comfortable but the ascent and descent had wild temperature swings. We conducted blood pressure checks, blood draws, IV insertions, urinary catheterizations, chest needle decompressions and inserting of advanced airways. These weren't all that different or more difficult than doing them at the surface but we had to inflate with saline (incompressible) rather than air, and vent any air spaces when we returned to one atmosphere.

We still have two days to go - one more day at another local Hyperbaric facility, then a day of exams and paperwork. More to follow.

My First Day at DAN HQ

I've been anticipating this week for nearly a year. Late in 2011, I set a goal to become a Diver Medic (DMT), essentially a "diving paramedic", to learn what more I could do to have an impact on dive safety and have an opportunity to save lives. As recent local diving accidents deaths constantly remind me, people do get hurt in our sport and there's a huge opportunity to make a difference. My first step was to become an EMT so I completed my Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician program with Remote Medical in Leavenworth in March. My WEMT experiences were chronicled earlier on this blog.

While waiting to attend the DAN DMT course (conducted only twice a year), I was offered an opportunity to also take Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and do an Instructor Trainer Workshop (ITW) while in Raleigh, NC. Of course I jumped at the chance! Although I'm already an Instructor in every program that DAN offers, I was not an Instructor Trainer (trains Instructors as well as providers) in the Dive Medicine for Divers programs and given my recent exposure to dive medicine, it made sense to qualify to certify Instructors to teach these programs too. The ACLS program focuses on advanced topics of cardiac rhythm identification, underlying problem resolution and using pharmacology to fix problems and manage patient conditions in both pre-hospital and hospital settings. We also did a Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers refresh and I've never felt so confident providing high-quality, two-rescuer CPR in my life. :-)

On my first day (of two), I met fellow students who had just completed their DMT re-certifications. Re-certification is required every two years to maintain the NBDHMT credential. These four guys really impressed me - one was a Hyperbaric chamber operator from Hawaii. Another a DAN examiner in the Florida Keys. All very accomplished and likable guys. My new friends and heroes.

I also met Dr. Nicholas Bird, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of DAN and Marty McCafferty, Sr. Medic. If you call into the DAN emergency or medical lines, it's highly likely you'll talk to one of these guys. As you'd expect, they really *have* seen and heard it all, but it's also clear that they both enjoy sharing their experience and knowledge with others. Both are lecturers during the DMT program and I can't wait to learn more directly from them. It'll be like my own personal DEMA seminars!

I'm also looking forward to conducting my own Instructor Qualification Courses (IQCs) and provider programs with the benefit of this new knowledge and skills. Nothing beats experience and I'm happy to share what I'll have gleaned by spending a week with the world's experts on dive safety with my instructor candidates and customers. First opportunity is October 7th when I'll be holding a Diving Emergency Management Provider program. Most PADI Rescue Diver courses don't cover this level of detail regarding first aid for hazardous marine life injuries, advanced oxygen skills and on-site neurological assessments to identify possibilities of decompression illness. Sign up this week to give yourself enough time to complete the eLearning portion of the program before the skills workshop. Class Registration closes at the end of the month.

With the ACLS program to be completed tomorrow, I'm looking forward to beginning what I came for - the Diver Medic Technician program - on Sunday.

EMT Training Site in Summer

In March 2012, I spent nearly a month training in Leavenworth to become a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT). In places there was nearly two foot deep snow which we trudged through during our exercises.

Today, I had an opportunity to go back to Tierra Learning Center, just outside of Leavenworth, and see what it looked like in summertime. Here are some of the photos I took.

Firepit at Icicle Brewing Company

Road into Tierra

Main Training Lodge

Maple Cabin

"Aircraft Down" Ridge

Shortcut across Field

Mountain Sprouts Barn

Mountain Sprouts selling Lavender

Entrance to Tierra Learning Center

Turns out I got to see Georgia (girl in blue dress) again. She was the tyke that took my stethoscope within about 20 seconds when we practiced our pediatric evaluations. She didn't remember me but we did buy lavender from her and her friend.

Impressions on Sixgill Shark Research

This week I had my first opportunity to contribute to the Sixgill Shark Research project at the Seattle Aquarium and it definitely exceeded my expectations. More about sixgill sharks here.

Diver descending with bait

Many local divers and Aquarium junkies know that the Seattle Aquarium is active in research on these sharks and that the research station is in fact located at the end of the Aquarium pier. Just 60 feet down off the end of the Aquarium pier sits a "cage" and bait box on a slope that descends much deeper. Because research is so resource intensive and because there haven't been as many sharks seen as in previous years, research events are now conducted every other month.

"Cage" is a loose term since it's not really meant to protect divers from the sharks but rather as a platform for cameras and lights and a way for scientists being able to get close enough to solicit a biopsy or place an ID tag without startling the passing shark.

End of Aquarium Pier showing diver ramp

My role started on Tuesday with combined setup and bait set dives. My job was to support the surface support team interact with the divers to deliver cameras and lights just when they expected them so they could place them perfectly at the research station. This was well choreographed between the dive master team, the surface support and of course the divers. In this case, two cameras and two lights were being placed by two divers. Sometimes there are three times that number of lights and cameras but an overhead and a lateral camera is enough to capture most activity and be able to positively ID passing sharks.

I continued my training on Wednesday with both a high-speed scan of the previous sixteen hours' worth of video and a live session at the shark research station during the 2nd bait set dive.

Divers returning to surface

Does fast-forwarding through 16 hours of footage sound like watching paint dry? While I might have thought that before, I certainly had no lack of entertainment. We saw hordes of ratfish, at least a dozen spiny dogfish, a half dozen lingcod, swarms of tubesnouts, a couple of harbor seals, a single octopus and even some diving birds, pidgeon guillemots! But of course it was in the last hour that we saw what we were looking for: around 7am, a 7-8 foot male sixgill shark made four passes through the research station for a total of 5 minutes. It was thrilling to see him cruise through and be able to jog the tape to note exactly the markings on him for later identification. My job during this portion of training was to help log timestamps for when significant events happened.

Observation Station

The afternoon spent on the Aquarium floor manning the research observation station was electric. Not only had we seen that one shark at 7am, many staff and early volunteers were treated to seeing another encounter around 9:30am. So a good-sized crowd had been watching for much of the day, hoping to get another glimpse. We didn't but we did get to interact directly with the divers setting the bait for the second day.

Looking forward to hearing how the last two days went. I'm very excited that sixgill sharks - at least one - is back and ready to be counted! Coincidentally, in the past week there have been at least three sixgill shark sightings reported at a popular local dive sight, called Redondo.

The next shark research event will be held in September and I'm already signed up to volunteer again.

Diving with Sharks in Oregon

So there we were, surrounded by over one hundred and fifty sharks, some of them more than nine feet long, thousands of razor-sharp teeth swirling around us...

To a non-diver, this probably sounds like the beginning of a therapy session but to a diver, this is how epic adventures begin.

A week ago, Better Dive Pro hosted an invite-only exploratory adventure to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon. The Aquarium began their Guest Diver program this summer and we were among the very first non-affiliated divers to have the opportunity to explore the same exhibit which was home to Keiko so many years ago.

The program was first class. Of course we came for the sharks but the program was much broader than that. Our guide and divemaster, marine biologist Taylor, was knowledgable, personable and made us feel safe throughout. After the requisite paperwork and liability releases he taught us about the animals we'd be diving with by taking us through the acryllic tunnel which penetrates both exhibits. Since this was before the Aquarium even opened it really felt like special VIP treatment.

Our first dive was in the Halibut Flats exhibit, the same place where the DUI Dog Days program is conducted each August. Taylor made this extra special by giving us the opportunity to feed some of the sturgeon and halibut. These are BIG animals and there are definitely some precautions to be aware of (don't let the sturgeon tear your dry gloves!) but it sure was fun being in the middle of a fish-feeding frenzy. I had my head chomped by a huge sturgeon! We toured the rest of the exhibit and explored all the nooks and crannies that you can't see from the observation tube. In a remote corner of the exhibit we found a small family of puget sound king crabs. If you go, you'd be wise to bring your drysuit - exhibit was a cool 53ºF (about the same as Puget Sound is right now) and we didn't move around very much. One big difference between Puget Sound and diving here is that the visability is always outstanding and interesting species sightings are guaranteed!

After a surface interval and a welcome deck-side warm water shower, we entered the "med pool" which is connected to the main shark exhibit. The drama heightened as we entered through an underwater trap door and looked over the edge of the exhibit to see hundreds of sharks swirling. The water temp was 60ºF in this exhibit but our hearts racing made it feel much warmer.

After Taylor made sure we wouldn't startle the sharks by dropping on top of them, we quickly descended 25' to the bottom where we stayed for the whole dive. We took two slow tours around the perimeter of the exhibit, pausing several times to take video and wave to visitors in the observation tube. Two shark wranglers ensured our safety using poles with a candy-stripe pattern. It's crazy to realize that you're in an exhibit with so many teeth and yet no need for a shark cage or offensive equipment. The sharks avoid the pattern since they were conditioned to think of it as the edge of their exhibit.

Our program was the Deluxe Guest Diver program which is not the same as the Standard program. The main differences are that your dive times are not limited and you get to go to the bottom of the shark exhibit. In the standard program, dives are limited to 30 minutes and you only get to peer into the exhibit from the entry platform. We thought the extra cost for Deluxe was well worth it. Program included admittance to the Aquarium after our diving was over.

We didn't take many photos but we posted a few videos on our Facebook fan page.

If you're interested in being included next time, be sure to join our mailing list. Aside from diving, we all enjoyed visiting the Rogue Brewery and historic bay front. We plan on making these trips every few months. Our program will include our exclusive eLearning shark diving distinctive specialty which counts towards your PADI Master Scuba Diver rating.