Rebreather Forum 4 Schedule
The symposium will address safety, physiology, technology, training, and knowledge gaps relevant to rebreather diving. The primary goals are to: 1) consolidate the knowledge base and enhance knowledge transfer, and 2) promote best practices within the community. The program includes 22 hours of scheduled synthesis sessions plus additional events over a three-day period. Optional diving activities will be available before and after the workshop for those interested.
Note that the presentation titles listed below are working titles subject to change.
Friday, 14 April-Tuesday 18 April:
Shipwreck & Recreational Diving: See Dive Operations
Monday, 17 April
09:00-15:00 National Pool Complex: RF4 Try-dives with Divesoft and Garmin.
Tuesday, 18 April
09:00-15:00 National Pool Complex: Try-dives with Divesoft, Fathom, iQsub , rEvo, Mares Horizon and Garmin.
DAN Europe is offering a half-day Neurological Assessment Course for €90 that will include a short oxygen provider review. If you are interested in attending, email Guy Thomas at [email protected].
SUEX is offering open-water DPV TRY-DIVES (sea condition permitting) at a local Malta site called Cirkewwa on the 18th and 19th April . They also have a fleet of SUEX VRX and a few XJT/XJS for rental with your RF4 tech shipwreck dives. If you have an interest in either of these options contact Max Valli, Orangeshark Diving centre at: [email protected] Or call diveline: +356 21521329 mobile: +356 79001802
18-19 APRIL:
Next, Gareth Lock and Andzrej Gornicki from The Human Diver will be hosting four half-day HF workshops on 18 and 19 April at the Excelsior Hotel. These workshops will give participants a number of a things: experience the core skills needed for high-performance teams using a globally-deployed team simulator, an experiential insight into how success happens in a complex environment but why people still make ‘stupid’ mistakes, and what leaders (as divers, instructors or organisations) can do to create positive change towards safety and learning from incidents, accidents and near misses.You can find out more by following this link: Human Diver RF4 Workshops
Wednesday, 19 April
09:00-15:00 National Pool Complex: Try-dives Divesoft, Fathom, iQsub , rEvo, Mares Horizon and Garmin. Divesoft will also be running a (dual) Rebreather Bailout workshop. Shearwater and Sonardyne will be demonstrating their new DiveTrack system.
18:30-21:00 Non-Caustic Cocktail Reception, Floriani Room, Grand Hotel Excelsior. Supported by “VisitMalta Incentives and Meetings.”
Thursday, 20 April
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 08:45-09:15 | Opening remarks | Michael Menduno and others |
| 09:15-10:00 | Overview of technical rebreather diving | Michael Menduno |
| 10:00-11:00 | Hazards in rebreather diving | Neal Pollock |
| 11:00-11:30 | Break/Exhibitors-coffee/tea service | |
| 11:30-12:30 | Accident review – the safety situation | Frauke Tillmans |
| 12:30-13:15 | Human factors in rebreather diving | Gareth Lock |
| 13:15-14:30 | Lunch (provided) | |
| 14:30-15:30 | Military diving with rebreathers | Vince Ferris, Oskar Franberg |
| 15:30-16:30 | Equipment options for diver safety | Pete Mesley |
| 16:30-17:00 | Break/Exhibitors-coffee/tea service | |
| 17:00-18:00 | Bailout strategies | Andy Pitkin |
| 18:00-18:30 | Mixed platform/mode diving | Mauritius Bell |
Friday, 21 April
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 08:00-08:30 | Coffee/Exhibitors | |
| 08:30-09:30 | Advances in decompression theory and practice | David Doolette |
| 09:30-10:30 | CCR training | Mark Caney, Sean Harrison, Paul Toomer |
| 10:30-11:00 | Break/Exhibitors-coffee/tea service | |
| 11:00-12:00 | Developments in rebreather diving equipment | Kevin Gurr |
| 12:00-12:45 | Developments in CO2 monitoring | Simon Mitchell |
| 12:45-14:00 | Lunch (provided) | |
| 14:00-15:00 | Demystifying scrubbers | John Clarke |
| 15:00-16:00 | Emergency procedures | Richie Kohler |
| 16:00-16:30 | Break/Exhibitors-coffee/tea service | |
| 16:30-17:15 | Thermal management | Neal Pollock |
| 17:15-18:00 | Use of CCRs in Malta shipwreck diving | Timmy Gambin |
Saturday, 22 April
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 08:00-08:30 | Coffee/Exhibitors | |
| 08:30-09:00 | School of diving safety and medicine | Simon Caruana |
| 09:00-10:00 | The future of physiological monitoring | Rachel Lance |
| 10:00-10:30 | Blue sky future CCR technologies | Phil Short, Kevin Gurr |
| 10:30-11:00 | Break/Exhibitors–coffee/tea service | |
| 11:00-12:00 | Real time physiological diver monitoring | Alessandro Marroni |
| 12:00-12:45 | Priority list straw man | Simon Mitchell |
| 12:45-14:00 | Lunch (provided) | |
| 14:00-16:00 | Consensus list discussion | |
| 16:00-16:30 | Break/Exhibitors-coffee/tea service | |
| 16:30-18:00 | Consensus list discussion | |
| 18:00-18:15 | Concluding remarks | |
| 19:30-23:30 | RF4 Hydrogen Banquet Blowout at Xara Lodge with keynote speaker Dr. Richard ‘Harry’ Harris on “Hydrogen diving.” Driven by SUEX! |
Monday 24 April- Friday 28 April
Shipwreck Diving: See RF4 Dive Operations
24-25 APRIL: Gareth Lock has created a specific two-day course, Learning from Unintended Consequences for those in leadership positions. There are 12 spaces available. According to Lock: Sports, Scientific, PSD, and Military Diving do not have a recognized, structured format for Learning from Unintended Outcomes (LFUO), especially those based on safety science. The processes used are often focused on blame, punishment, and proximal causes rather than learning and context. This course changes that paradigm and provides graduates with a new view on how to look at events in order to improve learning as well as safety in diving.