dealing with a paniced out of air diver.

[bigman241]

When I took my long bath in the hot tube with the jets and heater going I got thinking I was in 80 degree water in Hawaii with volcano vents blowing on me.
I got thinking about diving and the pony I am going to win on ebay tomorrow. Then I got thinking about how to handle an out of air diver. Let me ask you this cause I am not sure how to handle this scenario.

Your diving any where say 60 feet down. Your at 1400 psi and running over a wreck to head back to the line as far as you know your buddy went up ahead and your the last one down there. As you come over to the line to head up you see a diver on the edge of the wreck struggling. As you seem over you see he or her is caught in a fishing net and their reg has pulled out of their mouth and free flowed emptying their tank and their in a full panic. You go over stick your octo in their mouth and wait for them to relax so you can help.

You write on your slate that they have to cut the line and have to swim around behind them. The problem is the hose on your octo is to short for you to swim around. SO you write that they have to give up your octo and hold their breath. Their in to much of a panic and will not give it up. So you try to free them and notice your at 500 psi and dropping quickly .
Here is where I begin questioning things.

DO you A stay and try to help them risking you will also run out of air and be the only two down there. Or B pull the reg from their mouth and cut them loose then give them your octo back. OR C feel sorry but know two dead divers are worst then one and pull your reg and head to the surface for help all but knowing the diver will die.

My problem is I have a problem leaving someone to die. Though I have a problem dieing because I could not leave them. SO what would you do in this case? One solution I see is if your carrying a pony your can hand it off to them and go about cutting them out. Though how likely are you to have a pony somewhere you flew to. I am also not sure pulling the reg out of their mouth and cutting them is the right answer either. SO I am at a lost.

[No Misses]

Good luck getting that reg back from a paniced diver.

There are so many variables. There is no one answer to your question.

1. I will assume that it is thier tank and/or BC that is tangled. Dump thier BC and extricate them. The two of you can swim up.

2. Dump your BC and leave it with the diver and you do a CESA. Once on the surface you can get help for you and the other diver. Will you get bent? Maybe. It all depends on your gas loading.

Words to live by...It is better to be hurt on the surface, than dead on the bottom.

[PTAaron]

In theory your buddy will still be with you, and their buddy will still be with them - you wouldn't send your buddy to the surface and stay down at 60 ft...

In that scenario though - my first thought is to get them out of their bc to see if that frees them. Short of that - I just hope I never have to make a decision like that.

[DivingCRNA]

1) This kind of thing is why I use a 7 foot long primary hose.

2) How much risk you take to rescue someone else is totally up to you. If it is your Dad of kid, I bet you try harder. If it was my ex-wife, I would pretend that I did not even see her. In the end, no one is going to fault you for not creating two victims.

I imagine that if you got them to calm down, a 40 cf pony at 40 feet would last long enough to get you both out of there, but the whole scenario is a judgment call.

3) http://forum.scubatoys.com/surface-i...tml#post396729

4) How to Use You're and Your - wikiHow

[Defman]

You will learn the answer to this when/if you take Rescue Diver. If you feel like the diver is too freaked out and you're not comfortable with helping, then don't. Try to calm them down if you can, but if you can't then you get eff away from them.

As you mentioned, do you really want to lose your life trying to save another? Also keep in mind that now we'll have TWO divers to rescue putting even more of us at risk to help/retrieve you. Yeah, it sucks to make that choice and I hope we never have to do it.

If you can hand them your pony, and NOT give them any direct attachment to you, that certainly could be an option.

[mzbdiver]

I've had some Lifesaving training and in an aquatic situation you are always taught not to get within reach of a panicked person. There are several techniques how to do this. One that is interesting that hasn't been mentioned above is "taunting." You stay deliberately out of reach of the panicking person, but close enough that they try to get to you.

Also remember, that person is "supposed" to have had the same training as you, so they should know how to deal with an entrapment situation on their own, but if something is so wrong that they can't help themselves, then you can make the decision to help. If you watch as they trap themselves immediately and attempt to help them out, you may do more harm than good by not letting them work everything out themselves.

Just my 2 cents

[Smashee]

Chiming in on this one. It's all about judgment calls and there's not enough info for me to make one. The following is a plan and the best case. In real life, I may make different calls, dependent on the situation and I wouldn't expect a less experienced diver to do the same as me.

Best Case:
Assuming that the diver is stuck beyond my ability to free them, I'd shoot a yellow DSMB tied off to where the diver is. As soon as Surface Cover sees that, they will ready the emergency O2 kit and prepare for a casualty. The skipper will move the boat to where the DSMB is.

If I can't free their BC, I'd be able to hand off my gear and surface, preparing for a ride in the chamber. Divers & Surface Cover can then shuttle tanks down to the casualty.

This is all very easy to do on the internet, though. Real life is very different and I wouldn't expect someone else to do the same thing. Nobody would blame them for not putting themselves in danger. I've been trained in rescue techniques and management. They haven't. We have protocols in place in our club and run emergency scenarios on a regular basis. Surface Cover will always be a trained diver and even if we're on an unfamiliar boat, they can brief the skipper. Everyone in our club knows also how to administer emergency O2 and provide basic life support. Other divers may not have. There is no one right answer.

If it comes down to it, no-one expects an untrained, inexperienced diver to do more than they are trained for. Keeping yourself safe is priority number one in any emergency for any diver.

Oh, and don't forget to check to see if their gear is better than yours or gets a good price on eBay. You know, just in case.

[navyhmc]

Oh, and don't forget to check to see if their gear is better than yours or gets a good price on eBay. You know, just in case.

The old "You die first, we're splitting up your gear" Rule.

Good advice Smashee! (both the info and the rule)

[mzbdiver]

Chiming in on this one. It's all about judgment calls and there's not enough info for me to make one. The following is a plan and the best case. In real life, I may make different calls, dependent on the situation and I wouldn't expect a less experienced diver to do the same as me.

Best Case:
Assuming that the diver is stuck beyond my ability to free them, I'd shoot a yellow DSMB tied off to where the diver is. As soon as Surface Cover sees that, they will ready the emergency O2 kit and prepare for a casualty. The skipper will move the boat to where the DSMB is.

If I can't free their BC, I'd be able to hand off my gear and surface, preparing for a ride in the chamber. Divers & Surface Cover can then shuttle tanks down to the casualty.

This is all very easy to do on the internet, though. Real life is very different and I wouldn't expect someone else to do the same thing. Nobody would blame them for not putting themselves in danger. I've been trained in rescue techniques and management. They haven't. We have protocols in place in our club and run emergency scenarios on a regular basis. Surface Cover will always be a trained diver and even if we're on an unfamiliar boat, they can brief the skipper. Everyone in our club knows also how to administer emergency O2 and provide basic life support. Other divers may not have. There is no one right answer.

If it comes down to it, no-one expects an untrained, inexperienced diver to do more than they are trained for. Keeping yourself safe is priority number one in any emergency for any diver.

Oh, and don't forget to check to see if their gear is better than yours or gets a good price on eBay. You know, just in case.

Gave me a chuckle. Thanks!

[Scuba Pete]

Assuming that the diver is stuck beyond my ability to free them, I'd shoot a yellow DSMB tied off to where the diver is. As soon as Surface Cover sees that, they will ready the emergency O2 kit and prepare for a casualty. The skipper will move the boat to where the DSMB is.

I dont think that all divers/Boats know this. I would think that there really is no set standard. This would have to be covered in the pre dive breif. If i saw a yellow smb pop to the surface i would assum that they got blown off the line from the current and need an accent line. Unless of course there is something written on the SMB like SOS or something like that. You could also attach your slate with what is wrong on it.