As in any environment, the persons present are at risk in some way or another.
In consenting to reside in the Atlantis One facility for any period of time,
the researchers and other personnel present put their emotional, physical and mental
health at risk. Therefore, as the safety of these individuals is a primary concern,
there is the inherent need to ensure that all aspects of the health of these persons
are as best as they could be.
In addition to this requirement, all persons assigned to the facility must, of course,
be trained divers, as in the event of any emergency, they may have to evacuate the
facility with or without the use of submersibles. By ensuring that this is the case
with each and every resident of the facility, the possibility of some harm coming to
them is reduced, but not completely removed.
To this end, protocols have been developed. These have been categorized into the following:
- Daily Protocol
- Emergency Protocol
- General Rules and Regulations
However, in order to establish these protocols, the risks to which the residents would be
exposed had to be looked at. To efficiently do this, they were grouped into the following
hazard categories:
- Fire Hazard
- Water Hazard
- Air Pressure and Composition
- Earthquake Hazard
GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
ALL rules and regulations MUST be adhered to. If they are not followed, Atlantis One
will not be held responsible for any accidents and/or injuries sustained.
- ALL medications must be presecribed by a medical doctor and approved by the Atlantis
One medical officer to ensure tht it will not interfere with motor skills, reasoning or
any other aspect of normal behaviour under the conditions of the mission.
- No smoking or alcohol comsumption is allowed in the station.
- ALL medical emergencies MUST be reported to the medical personnel IMMEDIATELY.
- No member of the mission team should fly within forty-eight hours of decompression.
- ALL memebrs of the research teams aboard Atlantis One MUST be trained divers in that
they satisfy the following criteria:
- Diving certification from a nationally recognized diving agency or eth equivalent
(including military certification).
- Pass as regards the medical examination required by all prospective team members.
- Successful completion of the training session specially designed for Atlantis One
(in which they deal with saturation diving, working at the depths necessary for completion
of missions aboard Atlantis One, etc).
- Be capable of performing CPR and first aid.
- There will be no use ofcandles, hotplates, toaster ovens, ect. in any place with the
exception of the lab area.
- Personal items should be kept in storage (ie. put away in closets/drawers) unless in
use. (This is not only to prevent fire hazard, but to reduce the number of flying objects
in case of an earthquake.)
- Residents must know the location of fire extinguishers on board.
- ALL divers are responsible for knowing the search and rescue procedure.
GENERAL PROTOCOL
If there is a hydrogen leak, everyone in the station should be notified, and someone
should contact shore. Then the reactor should be shut down, and the station transfered to
emergency power, or battery. The leak should be located by sensor. If the part cannot be
immediately replaced or obtained from shore witin a few hours, the station should be
evacuated as soon as a summoned ship can arrive. Emergency evacuation procedures are not
necessary.
DAILY AND EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS
Daily protocol refers to, in essence, certain tasks that need to be
undertaken every day that a research mission is being conducted to
optimize the safety of those aboard Atlantis One. In the execution of
the protocols as designed, the probablity of a major hazard developing
is greatly reduced.
Emergency protocol were deemed necessary so that, in the of a major mishap, the team would have a plan to follow and hence minimize the level of panic and increase the chance of the situation being rectified as soon as possible.
Daily and emergency protocols were developed for: