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Operations at the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility (NBRF) are under the responsibility of the Space Systems Laboratory Director, who is a regular faculty member of the University of Maryland Department of Aerospace Engineering. Specific day-to-day operational control of the NBRF is under the purview of the following responsible officials:
This position is occupied by the SSL Laboratory Director, or by an SSL faculty or full-time staff member with significant diving experience appointed by the Laboratory Director. The Facility Director has overall responsibility for NBRF operations and diving safety. The Facility Director may waive non-safety critical requirements expressed in this document for specific instances. The Facility Director participates as available in training classes, approves test requests, and oversees facility operations. The Facilities Director approves all deck chief and lead diver appointments.
This position is a faculty, staff, or graduate student at the Space Systems Laboratory who is currently rated as both a deck chief and lead diver, and is appointed by the Facility Director. This person is reponsible for maintaining all SSL dive-related records, including diver qualifications, equipment maintenance, and test plan records. This person schedules periodic training classes, organizes dive teams for externally-requested tests, and participates in training classes. The Diving Operations Manager maintains or supervises the maintenance of web-based file systems, including test requests, test plans, and deck chief computer interfaces.
As part of the cooperative agreement with NASA funding the Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility, the NBRF is to be open to external diving operations, either with NASA or other organizations. For this reason, this document distinguishes between an SSL diver, who is associated with the Space Systems Laboratory and expected to have regular and routine involvement in dive operations, and an external diver, who may be from elsewhere at the University of Maryland, from NASA, or from some other organization, whose involvement in the NBRF is limited in scope.
Applicants for diver status at the NBRF must have a nationally-recognized basic diver certification, and shall be currently certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); the CPR requirement for external divers may be waived by the Facility Director when required. All divers are encouraged, but not required, to also have certification in basic first aid and emergency O2 administration. All divers are encouraged, but not required, to belong to DAN, and to carry DAN supplemental insurance. Prior to their first dive, all new divers must have created an entry in the lab personal data base, and must have provided proof of medical insurance (DAN insurance is only supplemental) and scuba certification. External divers should make arrangements with the Facility Director, Diving Operations Manager, or their point of contact to fill out their entry in the lab personal data base.
NBRF divers must meet all normal medical requirements of a scuba diver. Divers must have on file the results of a NAUI-compatible medical examination (medical requirements and physician approval form in Adobe Acrobat format). A diver medical examination shall remain current for three years for divers under 40 years of age, and for two years for divers 40 and over.
The NBRF Diving Operations Manager will create an individual record folder for each new diver, which will be maintained in an accessible location at the NBRF deck chief station. This folder will contain a hard copy of the Diver Information Form; photocopies of scuba certification cards, medical insurance cards, and the most recent diver medical results; and any other desired supplemental information. The intent behind the diver records that they are instantly available in the event of a medical emergency, and will be turned over to responding medical personnel as part of the emergency response plan. Other than emergency access, diver records shall be considered priviledged information and kept confidential for all other purposes.