Allison Potter – National Aquarium, Baltimore, Maryland
Wow, what an amazing week! Let me start off with the fact that ADPA was my first ever professional symposium/conference that I have attended, and it set the bar high. Earning the Brett Dodson Scholarship was a huge bonus to the whole experience. The scholarship funds allowed my institution to have 3 of our 5 Dive Programs staff represent the National Aquarium at ADPA and DEMA – a first for us. Budgetary constraints from COVID limited how many personnel could attend since I was first hired as an Assistant Dive Safety Officer (ADSO) back in late-2019.
By applying the scholarship to larger expense items such as airfare and lodging, I was able to apply the Aquarium’s provided budget to registration fees including multiple sessions during the ADPA Training Day. I attended Human Factors and “If Only” sessions where I gained a different perspective about the accumulation of “little factors” and human error contributing to dive incidents that could mean the difference between life or death. Regularly diving in an aquarium setting may influence divers into thinking “it’s safe because it’s confined water” allowing for a potential snowball effect. In addition to Training Day, there was so much to take away from the various presentations during the Symposium. The National Aquarium is currently prepping for our summer of DAN courses for both staff and volunteers. I am so excited to incorporate new insight to CPR on women versus men to our training that I learned from Meriah’s presentation “Breaking Down Gender Bias in Life Saving Training”.
Experiencing both the ADPA Training Day and Symposium introduced me to so many like-minded professionals in the industry I have been a part of for the past 5 years as an ADSO and Volunteer Diver Coordinator. I had the opportunity to learn and share with other volunteer coordinators including those from the Florida and Georgia Aquariums. The full in-person immersion into ADPA even helped me understand the “coming home” mentality that I had not fully gained from previous ADPA Professional Development sessions I attended virtually. My attendance even fueled my interest in joining an ADPA committee to become further involved like my manager, Holly Bourbon, is.
The lasting effect from attending ADPA ahead of DEMA was how this group created a more profound experience at the trade show. Familiar faces when walking around DEMA floor making what may have been an overwhelming experience much more welcoming. The ADPA flag on my DEMA badge made me feel connected to the ADPA even when roaming solo.
While I had the opportunity to attend multiple seminars at DEMA, the ones that left the biggest impression on me were those offered by Divers Alert Network. Managing a large core of volunteer divers presents its challenges with one of those being the lack of safety culture in an occupational setting, especially with such a diverse group of people. The DAN seminars covered various risks, health concerns, and accidents that were applicable to our population of divers at the National Aquarium. My take home lesson from these seminars was how to better communicate and facilitate building that safety culture by providing the “whys” and new applicable testimonials during daily huddles and dive briefings with our divers that appear to already resonate with them. Overall, upon my return from ADPA and DEMA helped me feel like a stronger Dive Safety Officer for both the divers we oversee and my team.
If you are new to the ADPA and have not had the pleasure of attending the Symposium – apply for the Brett Dodson scholarship! It’s an opportunity that could enhance your overall experience by providing additional funding for other workshops, seminars, and sessions to learn from. I look forward to my continued involvement with the ADPA while I advance through my career as an aquarium dive professional. #WTTADPAMF
