No safety stop during dives

[gNats]

Originally Posted by Lulubelle

So it appears that we may well be at increased risk for DCI. But it is retrospective, so not proof positive, but a strong indicator.
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One recent retrospective review of women divers (956 divers) with DCI found 38 percent were menstruating at the time of their injury. Additionally, 85 percent of those taking oral contraceptives were menstruating at the time of the accident. This suggests, but does not prove, that women taking oral contraceptives are at increased risk of decompression illness during menstruation. Therefore, it may be advisable for menstruating women to dive more conservatively, particularly if they are taking oral contraceptives. This could involve making fewer dives, shorter and shallower dives and making longer safety stops. Four other studies have provided evidence that women are at higher risk of DCI, and in one study of altitude bends, menses also appeared to be a risk factor for bends.

And here I was mostly worried about shark attacks! Huh. It's going to take a while for me to process this information.

[Splitlip]

Originally Posted by Lulubelle

So it appears that we may well be at increased risk for DCI. But it is retrospective, so not proof positive, but a strong indicator.
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One recent retrospective review of women divers (956 divers) with DCI found 38 percent were menstruating at the time of their injury. Additionally, 85 percent of those taking oral contraceptives were menstruating at the time of the accident. This suggests, but does not prove, that women taking oral contraceptives are at increased risk of decompression illness during menstruation. Therefore, it may be advisable for menstruating women to dive more conservatively, particularly if they are taking oral contraceptives. This could involve making fewer dives, shorter and shallower dives and making longer safety stops. Four other studies have provided evidence that women are at higher risk of DCI, and in one study of altitude bends, menses also appeared to be a risk factor for bends.

Oh Man! Way too much information. Take over to the Women's forum.

[Lulubelle]

Originally Posted by gNats

And here I was mostly worried about shark attacks! Huh. It's going to take a while for me to process this information.

I can certainly understand why you are worried about those midwestern quarry sharks, they are a fierce breed indeed.

Originally Posted by Splitlip

Oh Man! Way too much information. Take over to the Women's forum.

SL, both Desert Diver and WaScubaDude brought up the increased risk of DCS in female divers, so I had to go looking, being that I am a female. Don't blame the messenger.

[Jack Hammer]

Good info to be aware of. I dive with both men and women and getting bent does come up in BS sessions on occasion. Hearing this gives me something new to add to it as not all women are aware of a possibility of increased DCI risk.

Jack

[Beefcake]

Originally Posted by Jack Hammer

Good info to be aware of. I dive with both men and women and getting bent does come up in BS sessions on occasion. Hearing this gives me something new to add to it as not all women are aware of a possibility of increased DCI risk.

Jack

Plus it's a good way to find out if they're on the pill...

On a more serious note, I am a newer diver, so safety stops were beat into me in training, and I've always done them (except on short shallow dives - around 20'). Anyway, the thing I've noticed is that I don't burn much air on safety stops, so as long as there is something cool to look at it just extends / enhances the dive. I am a big guy, and I can suck down some air at 60', but even if I begin my ascent at Rock Bottom, I have plenty of gas to do a SS without dipping below my new RB (RB gas required is much less at shallower depths).

[jugglematt]

i would consider it necessary to do a safety stop after every dive ,, and i guess stop is not the right word as all it does is slow your ascent rate and allow you to off gas a bit more .

people get bent ALL the time diving within the dive tables , diving safely and doing EVERYTHING right , so adding a safety stop to every dive is a bare minim in my opinion.

i think if possible incorporating your safety stop into diving on the shallow part of the reef is a great idea , extended safety stops and Multi level diving is also a good habit to get into .

if im doing a square profile dive
( down the anchor rope , dive then back up )
i will spend my safety stop reviewing my photos , helps the time to pass quicker .
i also have a lead shot line at the back of my boat to a depth of 12m , i have colored cord at 9m , 6m and 4m so i can ascend up the shot line and feel by the line what depth im at , great if i have my hands full .

Matty

[mitsuguy]

All recreational diving is "no-stop" diving... If you are being required to make a safety stop, then you have exceeded your training in a recreational sense...

That being said, I do a safety stop on pretty much every single dive, though if I need to come to the surface, I really don't hesitate, unless my computer had me at or close to the limits... Then, I'll do a safety stop, unless there is an emergency...

Shore diving, even to deeper depths, around here, is awesome - we do an 8 minute safety stop on every dive... I always get asked - what about the safety stop??? when we ascend from the dive - most don't realize that we were swimming for the past 8 minutes over shallow coral in 10-20' of water, and we actually ascended in 7 feet of water... (though sometimes, I brief that before the dive, I almost give up, as no one ever pays attention to dive briefings, which is an entirely different subject)

So, recreational diving - safety stops - do em if you can, skip them if you have a real good reason to...

[in_cavediver]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

All recreational diving is "no-stop" diving... If you are being required to make a safety stop, then you have exceeded your training in a recreational sense...

That being said, I do a safety stop on pretty much every single dive, though if I need to come to the surface, I really don't hesitate, unless my computer had me at or close to the limits... Then, I'll do a safety stop, unless there is an emergency...

Shore diving, even to deeper depths, around here, is awesome - we do an 8 minute safety stop on every dive... I always get asked - what about the safety stop??? when we ascend from the dive - most don't realize that we were swimming for the past 8 minutes over shallow coral in 10-20' of water, and we actually ascended in 7 feet of water... (though sometimes, I brief that before the dive, I almost give up, as no one ever pays attention to dive briefings, which is an entirely different subject)

So, recreational diving - safety stops - do em if you can, skip them if you have a real good reason to...

This isn't quite true - mostly though. On my PADI tables, if you go deeper than 100', the safety stop is mandatory. If you come within X groups of the NDL, the stop is mandatory. All of that is within the scope of rec diving.

I'd also add for those riding the edge of thier computers, the stops should be viewed as mandatory.

[Johncalloway]

Originally Posted by jet126

Just another quick thought, what was the depth of your last 3-5 minutes? Some DM's will take you up to 20-ish ft. and do what's called a "rolling" stop where you're still moving around but at the right depth to gas off.

+1 He said it right.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by in_cavediver

This isn't quite true - mostly though. On my PADI tables, if you go deeper than 100', the safety stop is mandatory. If you come within X groups of the NDL, the stop is mandatory. All of that is within the scope of rec diving.

I'd also add for those riding the edge of thier computers, the stops should be viewed as mandatory.

on the PADI tables though, they put those safety stop requirements in for an added buffer... In PADI's text, it clearly states that what we teach is no stop diving - the tables add that safety stops are required to give you that extra buffer, just in case... View them as mandatory, but if there is an emergency, I'd go ahead and surface..

Hate to say it, but in the event of a true emergency, I'd risk coming to the surface and deal with DCS over drowning any day...