What should be done with unconcious diver at depth?

[xjeslesx]

I would like to thank everyone that posted to this thread. My question was answered 'controlled ascent or inflate bc and shoot them to the surface'. Controlled ascent is clearly the consensus. I understand that people do not want to be 'put on the spot' or held liable etc. etc. etc.. This simple one sentence answer provides the knowledge to me and all others that read this post that can be the difference between someone having a chance to live or most likely dieing.

Thanks again to all posters.

 

[Cave Diver]

What is the best course of action if I encounter an unconscious diver at depth? My gut tells me to inflate the person's BCD and shoot them to the surface. No worries about lung over expansion but they may have an embolism. I figure this is better than a slow ascent and drowning.

Please let me know what the proper procedure is?

Thanks

The best course of action would be to write a note on your slate telling them that you'll be back after you take a rescue course and clip it off to them in case they regain conciousness.

It could be your OW instructor had a heart attack while you were doing your checkout dives with him. How inconvenient!

Ok, in all seriousness, taking a rescue class will give you skills and training to properly address this question. But let's assume just for the moment that you're rescue class isn't due to start til next week and you run across an unconcious diver at depth this weekend.

I'm going to assume that you're doing recreational diving, within NDL's, because if you were doing any sort of "tech" diving I would hope you'd already taken this class and addressed the issue. I'm also going to assume either you don't have a buddy, or the victim IS your buddy.

The first rule of rescue is don't become a victim yourself.

Secondly, assess the situation. Does the diver still have a reg in place? Are there bubbles to indicate he's breathing? Are there other people around that can assist?

If they are not breathing or the reg is not in their mouth I would attempt to get them to the surface as quickly as possible with a slow controlled ascent.

If the diver is breathing but unresponsive, I would first try to and see if I can rouse them. Keep in mind that if they revive and find someone jacking with them, their response may be startling, so be prepared to back off quickly. If they continue breathing, but remain unresponsive, I would look at their gauges for an idea of gas remaining and dive profile. I would also look to see if there were any other tell tale signs like blood, skin color, breathing pattern, etc. to determine if there may be other factors placing them in immediate risk before starting a slow controlled ascent with them.

If you do not think you're comfortable trying to surface with another diver while maintaining a controlled ascent, your next course of action could be to shoot an SMB and attach it to the unconcious diver before ascending yourself to get help.

This will make finding the victim easier when help arrives and depending on the locale, shooting a marker will alert onsite personnel of a potential problem and they will already be swinging into action by the time you surface.

Alternately, if you're diving with a buddy, one of you could surface for help while the other remains at depth with the victim, depending on depth/air/time/comfort level circumstances.

Obviously there are a lot of nuances covered in rescue training that I have not covered here. This post is not a replacement for proper training and skills practice, but since a accident could happen to anyone at anytime it's unrealistic to think that there will always be a rescue diver around.

 

[merxlin]

I would like to thank everyone that posted to this thread. My question was answered 'controlled ascent or inflate bc and shoot them to the surface'. Controlled ascent is clearly the consensus. I understand that people do not want to be 'put on the spot' or held liable etc. etc. etc.. This simple one sentence answer provides the knowledge to me and all others that read this post that can be the difference between someone having a chance to live or most likely dieing.

Thanks again to all posters.

Sorry xj, but in my opinion this is exactly the danger of a post like this. That simple one sentence answer is the tip of the iceberg as it were. You now have a little knowledge. It is better than having zero knowledge since you know not to rocket the victim to the surface. But hopefully this has also shown you how much there is to learn about a rescue scenario. So yes this information is better than not knowing anything about what to do, but please don't feel confident that you or anyone else reading this is now qualified to do a rescue. If you truely want to know what you are doing, please take the rescue class.

 

[bluebubble1995]

It may be seen by more Advanced divers, but what about OW divers that are newly certified? I think everyone benefits from reading this post.

I concur.

 

[bleeb]

Sorry xj, but in my opinion this is exactly the danger of a post like this. That simple one sentence answer is the tip of the iceberg as it were. You now have a little knowledge. It is better than having zero knowledge since you know not to rocket the victim to the surface. But hopefully this has also shown you how much there is to learn about a rescue scenario. So yes this information is better than not knowing anything about what to do, but please don't feel confident that you or anyone else reading this is now qualified to do a rescue. If you truely want to know what you are doing, please take the rescue class.

While it's laudable that the OP is willing to ask the question as to what to do, it's important for everyone to remember one of the basic principles that is taught in most first aid, CPR and rescue courses: Don't make things worse. Also important is the corollary: Know what you're doing so that you don't make things worse. Many Good Samaritan laws encourage this by only protecting people acting within the scope of their formal training. That's not to say whether you should or shouldn't act in a crisis, but it's obviously better if you're knowledgeable, trained and practiced in doing things the accepted way to minimize the chances of causing more injuries in the process.

So the overall recommendation: Take the rescue class.

 

[merxlin]

.......I am disappointed that this thread was moved from 'accidents and incidents', this emergency could affect anyone.

I concur.

I am glad it ended up here. Many more people will see a post in this area than in accidents & incidents. I doubt most divers visiting this site will go there (A&I) unless there is something compelling in the headline, or you do so regularly to keep up on whats happening to divers. Just my $.02 (using no taxpayer bailout money).

 

[mkutyna]

Here's the basic steps that we teach our BOW divers.

1. Tap diver to determine if they are unconscious or just looking at something.
2. Upright diver and get them into a vertical position.
3. Situate yourself behind the diver and reach your right arm under their right arm, around their chest and up to their face to either lightly hold their reg in their mouth or hold it in front of their mouth if the reg was not in their mouth when you encountered the diver.
4. With your left hand, dump air from your BC and grab the diver's inflator/deflator hose.
5. Swim to the surface controlling the ascent with the diver's BC.
6. About 1-2 feet from the surface, tilt the diver back so they are facing up and start inflating their BC.
7. Inflate your BC and continue with the standard unconscious diver at the surface rescue.

 

[xjeslesx]

Many Good Samaritan laws encourage this by only protecting people acting within the scope of their formal training.

I'm not really worried about Good Sam laws. If I see an unconscious diver underwater I'm going to help them. Too many people are concerned with protecting themselves and not with helping a fellow diver.

 

[divengolf]

I've done the PADI rescue course some years ago, but am puzzled by the UTube video referenced earlier in this thread. It shows what appears to be a continuous slow purging of the victim's reg by the rescurer as they ascend. I understand that the "victim" in the video was breathing during the ascent, but the bubbles appear to be continuous, not incremental. As I recall, this was not taught in PADI Rescue and was not mentioned in the extract from the PADI Rescue manual earlier in the thread.

In fact I believe that we were taught not to purge, because that may force water into the victim's lungs.

Can someone clarify the proper procedure.

TIA

 

[bleeb]

I'm not really worried about Good Sam laws. If I see an unconscious diver underwater I'm going to help them. Too many people are concerned with protecting themselves and not with helping a fellow diver.

I don't think you got my point. It's not whether you or anyone else has legal protection. As merxlin said, you now have a little knowledge. Remember that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Willing to help is good, but when you go to help someone, just please think about what you're doing and don't make things worse for someone by doing the wrong thing because you didn't know better.